Casting Shadows
by AllThingsFairyTail
Summary: Natsu and Lucy have always been close, but what happens when a mystery guy joins the guild and immediately takes an interest in Fairy Tail's Celestial Spirit mage? Will Natsu figure out why he dislikes this guy so much, or will he be to late and end up costing everyone gravely? My first NaLu fan fiction so enjoy! Sorry about the sketchy summary.
1. Chapter 1

_**Lucy's POV:**_

Lucy dreamt that she was plummeting down a volcano. What made it so terrifying is that she was only falling, never reaching the bottom, so it kept her tensed for the inevitable impact. The heat didn't help either, continuing to become hotter and hotter to the point she felt as if she were melting. It made sense that if she were getting hotter that she would hit magma soon. That realization tore a scream from her throat, her heart racing in terror. As if her body couldn't take the fear anymore she finally woke up, gasping and sweating. Lucy let her eyes wonder the room and worked on slowing her pounding heart and her breathing. Something tightened around her waist, holding her against a solid and comforting object. Still tensed up from her nightmare, she allowed a sigh to escape her lips and relaxed against it, happy for the reassurance the warm body gave her.

Wait… body?

Before she could even register her new discovery, an amused and all too familiar voice spoke up, rolling his tongue in the most infuriating way. "They llllllike each other." He snickered.

Lucy's entire body went rigid, eyes going wide in shock. The body she was all cozy with was none other than Fairy Tail's pink-haired dragon slayer. His arms were around her waist, holding her back against what felt like his bare chest. Their legs were entwined together and her head was resting just under his chin. She was still for a few more moments, letting it all sink in, then she shrieked and pushed him out of the bed. He flipped and twisted in panic, getting tangled up in the bed sheets and hitting the floor face-first. When the blankets were pulled off, Lucy realized that she was just in a t-shirt and pink polka dotted panties. She tried to cover herself with a pillow, wishing she could curl up into a ball of mortification and vanishing.

"What was that for, Lucy?" Natsu groaned, pushing up on his elbows to look at her with sleepy and annoyed onyx eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" She demanded, brown eyes blazing with anger.

Natsu sat up and crossed his legs, yawning before flashing her his trade mark grin. "I was at the guild pretty late fighting with Gray, so instead of walking all the way to my place we just decided to crash here." He said, shrugging his shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal.

"You can't just come into my room in the middle of the night and sleep in my bed!" Lucy snapped.

"But I always have the best nights in your bed." Natsu whined.

"I don't care, it's still _my bed!"_ She all but hissed.

"That's the reason he sleeps so well." Happy chortled.

"That's it, get out!" Lucy yelled, reaching for the whip she kept by her nightstand.

Natsu just huffed and stood up, reaching for his discarded shirt. "Ya ya, I'm leaving. I hope you're in a better mood when you come to the guild later." He muttered, walking to the window.

"Use the door!" She wailed in frustration.

Natsu just ignored her and jumped out, followed swiftly by his annoying blue cat. Lucy huffed and stood up, throwing the pillow angrily back on to her bed. Muttering to herself, she went to the bathroom and got undressed, filling the tub with hot water. She slipped in slowly, sighing contentedly as the warm water soothed her tight muscles and soaked the anger out of her body.

"That Natsu. Can't he just buy his own bed instead of staying in mine all of the time? It's not my fault that he sleeps in a hammock." She murmured in exasperation.

Lucy closed her eyes and let her mind wonder. She found herself thinking about the warmth of his body; how it felt kind of good being crushed against the hard muscles of his stomach. She slapped both of her cheeks and splashed her face with hot water.

"That's no way to think about your best friend and team mate!" She scolded herself.

Finishing with her bath, she dried off her body and put on a pair of white shorts that reached mid-thigh and a dark blue t-shirt that cut pretty low. Lucy didn't feel like drying her hair, so she just put it in a descent French braid then turned to attach her whip and precious Celestial keys to her belt. Grabbing a bag in case of an impromptu mission she headed for her door. When out in the hallway Lucy attempted to close it when she was hit with the most powerful feeling of foreboding that made her stumble and clutch her stomach.

"What the hell was that?" She gasped painfully.

She waited for a few moments while catching her breath. Later she decided to speak to Cana about her uneasy feeling. Casting a final worried look around her room, she locked the door and ran to escape the apartment complex before she could get trapped by her terrifying land lady, walking swiftly to her beloved guild.

* * *

** Well, this is the first chapter of my first NaLu fan fiction! I hope this has peeked your interest and that you would like me to continue with this story. I already have 2 more chapters already written and in the process of editing, so please review and tell me if I should continue writing this. Good or bad I would love to hear your guys thoughts. Thank ahead of time and enjoy! I know this is a little short, but if you want me to post more chapters I promise to make them a lot longer than this one was =D  
**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Natsu's POV:**_

"Then she started to threaten us with that damned whip of hers and she kicked us out!" Natsu finished complaining, taking a swig of the sweet tasting fire Mirajane had given him.

"Lucy is always so mean to us in the morning, I wonder why." Happy added, his voice muffled due to the fish he was currently stuffing in his mouth.

Everyone around the two of them sweat dropped. Erza crossed her arms, giving them both a hard look, making Natsu panic slightly.

"Natsu, even though the two of you are partners the line needs to be drawn somewhere. You can't just climb into a young ladies bed without her permission and expect her to be happy about it. Not to mention you could easily be giving her the wrong idea." She pointed out sternly.

Natsu stared at Erza, his eyes blank. "What do you mean by wrong idea?"

Gray scoffed beside him, shaking his head and smiling in amusement. "What an idiot." He said just loud enough for Natsu to hear.

Natsu stood up and head-butted him. "Do you wanna go, Snowflake?" He growled.

"Bring it on you little flicker." He growled right back.

Before the usual and inevitable fight could break out, in which Erza would have put both of them in the hospital for it, Natsu suddenly reared back, looking at the guild doors with a somewhat surprised expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Natsu-san?" Wendy asked in a quiet and curious voice.

"There's and odd scent coming towards us." He murmured, not looking at them.

Erza moved a hand slowly towards the hilt of her sword. "Is it a threat?"

Natsu didn't know, but there was definitely something different about it. "I don't recognize it, but it smells…" He trailed off, groping for a word to best describe it, "dark."

Not a moment later, a shadow spread across the floor from the guilds entrance, and a teenager soon followed. The guy was tall, maybe even taller than Natsu himself, and he had dark brown hair that went a little past his ears and looked messy like he ran his hands through it every so often. From what he could see, this new guy had dark blue eyes that were looking around the hall with something like surprise and amazement in his eyes, his white teeth showing a grin of excitement.

"So this is Fair Tail." Natsu's advanced hearing picked up his breathy words.

"Yo, Mira, who's that?" Gray asked the white-haired takeover mage.

Mirajane looked up from the cup she was cleaning and gave him a surprised once over. Finally she put the cup down and walked around the bar, making her way up to the stranger with her well known friendly smile.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail! Is there something I can help you with?" She asked kindly.

His eyes widened slightly when he looked at her. "Oh wow, you're really Mirajane! It's amazing to meet you in person!" He said swiftly, and then his cheeks turned a little pink in embarrassment.

Mira laughed softly, trying to reassure him is what Natsu thought.

"Actually there is something. I came here to join your guild." He said quickly, almost tripping over his words.

Natsu and Gray shared a look of shock, and he noticed that Erza still hadn't moved her hand from her weapons hilt. He could understand her tension, there was something slightly off about the guy. Maybe it was just him being paranoid but he decided not to drop his guard.

Mirajane beamed at him. "Of course you can! Anyone is welcome to our guild. Just make yourself and home while I go fetch the master of Fairy Tail to welcome you." With a final smile she turned and walked down the hallway that led to the Masters office/hide away.

"Did he even say anything about himself to Mira?" Erza asked them.

Wendy shook her head. "All he really did was gush over Mira and ask to join the guild. You would think that he would at least tell her his name." She whispered in surprise.

Natsu was still staring at him. The guy looked a little awkward, pulling at the bottom of his white V-neck t-shirt. He had on long black jeans that went a little over his black running shoes. Natsu had to admit that he probably had girls all over him, but that only added to his suspicions.

"Well, I don't like people hiding things, especially if they try to join our guild." Gray muttered, and then raised his voice, "Hey!"

The guy looked up in surprise, and then a look of relief crossed his face as he made his way over to them at the bar.

"What's your name?" Gray asked, and Natsu notice Wendy flinch a little at his bluntness.

He gave Gray a nervous smile. "My name is Cole Skia; it's really an honor to meet all of you!" He said, eyes suddenly filled with excitement, "the four of you really became famous throughout Fiore since the Grand Magic Games!"

Wendy face flushed a little. "I really didn't help out that much though."

"Don't be so modest! Your magic is so cool, especially how you stood up to that girl from Lamia Scale so well!" He said energetically.

_Okay, now he's laying it on a little thick. _Natsu thought, starting to get annoyed. Even Happy looked at Cole funny, exchanging a quick look with Natsu before going back to inhaling his fish.

"What kind of magic do you use?" Erza asked him, her voice still guarded.

Cole didn't seem fazed by her tone though. He put a hand on the back of his neck and smiled a little sheepishly. "Although I really don't like the name of it, I use Shadow Magic." He told them.

"Shadow Magic? That's pretty rare." Gray noted, "The last person I remember having that kind of magic was that Kage guy from the dark guild we defeated over eight years ago."

"Don't forget about Rogue from Sabertooth!" Wendy added, "But I guess it's his dragon slaying magic, so it's a little different."

Cole laughed a little awkwardly. "I've heard of both of them, and my magic is slightly different. I can't actually turn into shadows sadly, but I can requip shadow weapons like a sword or a bow." He explained.

"Oh, so you have magic similar to Erza's" Gray over-simplified, and Wendy laughed a little.

"Except that my magic is nowhere near as powerful as hers." He agreed.

Erza raised an eyebrow, finally moving her hand from the hilt of her sword. "By shadow weapons do you mean that they are completely made out of shadows?" She wanted to clarify, and Cole nodded.

Their conversation was interrupted as Mira came back to the bar and Master Makarov called Cole over to speak with him.

Natsu hadn't said a word to him through the entire conversation, and it didn't go unnoticed by him that Cole didn't directly confront him either. He still couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that was telling him that he couldn't trust this guy. Natsu watched, still silent as Gramps welcomed Cole and then marked him with the crest of the guild, leaving a black Fairy mark on his upper left arm.

Cana stumbled up to them, unsurprisingly having a drink in her hand. She leaned against the bar and whistled, eying Cole appreciatively. "He sure is one hot piece." She said with a glint in her eyes.

Natsu only grunted in response, making Cana eye him suspiciously.

"What's with you?" She asked him, taking another swig of her drink.

Natsu shrugged, finally looking away from the Shadow mage and turning his attention back to his glass of fire.

"Do you still have a bad feeling about him?" Erza piled on, obviously annoyed that he wasn't giving them an answer.

Natsu stayed quiet for a moment longer, and then finally looked up at them. "I just keep getting a weird vibe from the guy is all." He admitted.

Mirajane gave him a sympathetic look. "That's to be expected. After all, the last two people who suddenly appeared at our guild had been Mest and Michelle. Mest turned out to be Doranbolt, a member of the magic council that infiltrated the S-Class wizard exam, and Michelle had turned out to be a member of the Oracion Seis and we almost lost Lucy because of that." She looked over at Cole, her eyes softening, "But I think we should give him a chance. There is something in his eyes that makes me believe that he is sincere in wanting to be a part of our guild."

Natsu huffed, downing the rest of his fire. "Well, I don't want to wait for him to end up turning against us. I say we question him or at least dig up anything we can find about this guy."

Gray nodded in agreement. "For once Flame-Brain has a point. I'll talk to Levi when she gets back from her job with team Shadow Gear and ask her to help us."

Natsu's mood instantly improved when the familiar scent of vanilla and strawberries wafted around him. He swiveled in the bar stool to watch as Lucy walked in, a bag slung over her shoulders and her keys shinning in the early sunlight. Her hair was pulled back and it made her face seem softer for some reason, bringing out her big brown eyes. Even though he was still annoyed with what happened this morning, he felt a grin spread across his face at the sight of his best friend. She seemed to be looking around the guild for someone, and Natsu notice her spot Cana beside him and she started walking over. Natsu raised his arm to wave her over in welcome.

"Yo, Luce!" He called, then paused.

She wasn't looking at them anymore; instead her eyes were glued on Cole as he was welcomed by a few members of the guild. Cole looked up and spotted her, a grin spreading across his face and his eyes widening slightly. Natsu dropped his arm and his smile fell off his face when he saw her cheeks go pink and she smiled shyly back at him.

"Looks like Natsu's got some competition." Cana snickered, and Gray grinned at him in amusement but Natsu ignored them both.

He felt anger growing inside of him as he watched Cole walk up to introduce himself. Lucy seemed a little flustered but she talked easily with him, giving him her smile that Natsu liked so much. He glared daggers at Cole, deciding then and there that he could not be trusted, and he'll be damned if he lets this playboy hurt Lucy.

* * *

**And here is the second chapter! Thank you to those who wanted me to continue to write this story, you guys are awesome!**

**Disclaimer: I don't like the idea of being sued so I'm just gonna quickly say I don't own Fairy Tail, I'm only responsible for the plot of the fan fiction and any original characters.**

**Please review and tell me what you think, all comments are welcome! Also if you think the chapters should be longer or shorter just tell me, I still haven't decided how long I want each one to be.**

**Thanks and have a great day!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Lucy's POV:**_

Lucy was surprised to see that the guild seemed quite peaceful today, but that was probably because it was almost deserted. It seems as if no one really gets a break any more since the Grand Magic games. Most of the guild is always being requested for certain jobs and they really didn't have a reason to refuse, especially because the pay was really good. Lucy smiled to herself as she walked to the bar, remembering how just the other day Wendy had approached her asking for advice about Romeo. Apparently the young fire mage had finally gained the courage to ask Wendy to go on a job with him. Of course she had told Wendy to go with him because she knew that the Sky Maiden had a crush on him. It may not have been a confession, but it was a start. She sat at the bar and felt her cheeks turn pink. Speaking of confessions…

She was startled out of her train of thought by the feeling of two people slipping onto the stools on either side of her. She looked up to see Lisanna and Levi grinning wickedly at her. As if Mirajane had sensed some juicy gossip, she quickly walked over to them and leaned on her elbows.

"So…" Levi prompted.

Lucy gave her a blank look. "So… what?"

Lisanna looked at her in exasperation and impatience. "So, how was your date with Cole last night?"

"You went on a date with him?" Mira gasped, covering her mouth with her hands in pleasant shock.

Lucy sighed, trying to stay calm but a smile had slipped on her face against her will. It had been two months since Cole had joined the guild, and they had already been spending a lot of time together. Finally he had asked her out to dinner, and how was she supposed to say no to a guy as hot and as sweet as him?

"Ya, and it was… amazing." She admitted, blushing further as all of the girls started to squeal.

"What did you guys do? You need to spill the details right now!" Levi commanded, her eyes shining.

"He took me out to dinner at that fancy restaurant at the edge of Magnolia. He was so sweet, and we just talked the entire time. After that he walked me home. It was a beautiful night so it was super romantic." She sighed dreamily.

"Oh my god did he kiss you good night?" Mirajane asked a little too loudly.

Lucy suddenly felt eyes burning into her back, and she didn't need to turn around to know it was her salmon haired friend glaring over at them from across the guild. The other girls seemed to notice as well and Lisanna giggled lightly.

"I think that Natsu is a little jealous." She whispered, "What did he say about you going on a date with Cole?"

Lucy squirmed awkwardly. "Umm, I didn't actually tell him."

"Why didn't you tell him, Lu-chan?" Levi asked in surprise.

"I didn't think he would care about me going on a date, not that my personal life is any of his business." She muttered uncomfortably.

"Natsu may not say it out loud, but it's pretty obvious that he still doesn't trust Cole and now with you going on a date with him I can't imagine Natsu warming up to him." Mira explained.

"Why should I have anything to do with Natsu's attitude towards Cole?" Lucy asked, honestly surprised by the takeover mage's statement.

"You can't actually not know, right?" Lisanna asked, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"There's nothing to know, him and I are just friends. He shouldn't care about me having a boyfriend." Lucy said, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance.

"You said it!" Mirajane yelled in triumph.

"Said what?" Natsu's voice sounded behind them, making the distracted girls jump.

Lucy turned to see him standing with his arms crossed and frowning, onyx eyes looking at her with poorly disguised anger. She noticed that Lisanna and Levi-chan had somehow slipped away and Mirajane had left to serve someone else.

_Traitors,_ she growled to herself.

"Hey, Natsu!" Lucy said, putting on a friendly smile which he didn't return as he usually did.

"What were they saying about you and Cole?" He asked again.

Lucy didn't meet his eyes. "Cole and I went on a date last night; it's not that big of a deal." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

She could feel the temperature rising around them, and it only made her angry. What right did he have to get mad about this? None, absolutely none at all!

"And why the hell would you go out with him? He can't be trusted!" Natsu said angrily.

Lucy glared at him. "Who says he can't be trusted? Cole has done nothing against Fairy Tail or me, so there is no reason to still be suspicious about him!" She said, trying to keep her voice even.

Natsu huffed. "Can't you just trust me for once?"

Lucy just sighed, her anger ebbing slightly. "I've always trusted you, Natsu. You should know that by now."

A somewhat guilty look shinned in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I just don't trust him."

"I'm not asking you to trust him until you are ready, but until then, trust in me." Lucy said, giving him a small smile.

Natsu shook his head and sat down beside her. "Any ways, the reason I came over is because I found a job for us; 300,000J for capturing a few bandits hiding out in the woods. The city is about a three hour train ride from here, so it shouldn't be too bad. It's easy money!" He said with his usual grin returning.

"Great, my rents coming up pretty soon!" Lucy said in relief. Suddenly she got an idea, one that wouldn't make a certain dragon slayer happy but she needed to try, "I'm going to ask Cole to come with us."

"Lucy-!"

"Please just give him one chance to prove to you once and for all that he can be trusted." She cut him off, giving him her sweetest smile, "Please, Natsu?"

He looked at her with a measuring sort of gaze. "What's in it for me?" He asked with a smirk.

Lucy's eye twitched. Of course he would ask that, nothing came for free with this guy. "Name your price." She said, knowing she was going to regret it very quickly.

Natsu gave her an evil grin. "Fine, he can come. I'll tell you my demands eventually, but for now I will just let you worry."

She glared at him as he walked to the doors happily. He turned back and smiled again, making her want to slap him.

"Make sure that guy is ready to go and waiting at the train station in an hour. I'm going to find Wendy and get her to cast a troia on me." With that he left.

Lucy got the final laugh though, just wishing that she could see the look on Natsu's face when he found out that Wendy was gone.

Lucy had to hide her glee at seeing Natsu lying on the train seats looking completely green, Happy doing his best to help the dragon slayer.

"Umm, is he okay?" Cole asked uncertainly.

Lucy grinned. "Ya, he's fine. Just sit back and enjoy karma work its magic." She snickered, and Cole looked confused.

Natsu managed to glare at her before he covered his mouth, going almost purple. Lucy turned away and smiled at Cole, just enjoying how he was subconsciously drawing circles on her forearm.

"I really enjoyed our date last night, thank you again." She said softly, smiling at him through her lashes.

Cole grinned down at her. "I'm glad. Next time though I want to prove that I wasn't lying about how much of an amazing cook I am, so you should come to my place and I will make something for us." He said with a shy look in his dark blue eyes.

Lucy blushed slightly. "Sounds like a good idea."

His eyes shifted to the Celestial gate keys that were shinning in the mid-day sunlight. "So those are gate keys." He said in a hushed voice, "Do you mind if I look at them?"

For some reason she hesitated. It was a simple request, and there was really no harm in it, but… They were still her keys. Shaking away her doubts she smiled and handed them to him, trying to hide her reluctance. He eyed them in amazement, looking actually impressed.

"These keys are beautiful. You sure have a lot of contracts with spirits." He said, somewhat awed.

She smiled. "That just means I have so many loyal friends that are willing to fight with me. I love every single one of my spirits." She said, feeling a glimmer of pride.

He suddenly gasped in pain, dropping the keys on to his lap as his hand steamed a little bit. She took the keys back quickly and looked at him in shock.

"What happened?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know, one of your keys just burned my hand. It's no big deal though, I'm fine." He added reassuringly.

She narrowed her eyes. "I get that they may not like other people touching their keys, but that doesn't mean that they can burn someone. I didn't even know they could do that. If I find out who it was I will talk to them." _As long as it wasn't Aquarius, _she added to herself.

The train came to a stop and she sighed in relief. "Great, we're finally here! Happy, can you please take care of Natsu? I really don't want him to throw up on my shoes like last time." She said, getting grossed out by that memory.

"Aye, sir!" He answered, grabbing Natsu by the back of his shirt and flying him off the train as Cole and Lucy grabbed their bags from the overhead compartment.

"Our first mission together, this will be great!" Cole said with a grin, taking her hand.

Lucy smiled back in response, ignoring the cold feeling that she got suddenly and followed him off of the train.

* * *

_**Spirit World POV:**_

* * *

The group of spirits watched as Leo the Lion paced back and forth, brow furrowed and frowning in concentration.

"I'm sorry, but why did you burn Lucy's boyfriend?" Aries asked in a quiet and nervous voice.

Aquarius smirked. "Took her long enough to finally get a guy, and there you go burning him. Jealous already?" She teased with a wicked glint to her eyes.

He shook his head, eyes still lost in thought. "I felt something when he touched my key. As a spirit with the light of Regulus I can sense a dark heart from a mile away-"

"Boasting, much-ebi?" Cancer snickered.

"-and that guy wasn't any different" He went on as if no one had spoken. "I don't know what his true intentions are but he is a danger to Lucy and we need to protect her."

"If that's the case than we can't just pop up and call him out, he will just attack Lucy, we?" Scorpio said, lacking his usual bravado.

"Of course as soon as she gets a boyfriend he would be evil." Aquarius sighed, but she couldn't hide the worry in her voice. She may act like she hates the girl, and she kind of does, but she did have a small soft spot for her owner only because she looks so much like her mother, Layla.

"Then I will go and ask to speak with the Princess privately. I believe that she will listen to me." Virgo said, her voice monotone.

Everyone stared at her as she just stood there, her large blank eyes staring at nothing. They all looked at each other awkwardly until Virgo turned to them.

"It seems that I can't leave the Spirit World." She reported.

Leo looked at her in shock. "What do you mean, you can't?" He demanded.

"It feels as if I am blocked, I don't know how else to explain it." She told him.

Leo concentrated for a moment, trying to reach out with his energy to attach to Lucy's like he usually does when he passes through the gate on his own, but it felt like there was a wall there, keeping him trapped in the Spirit World. He couldn't even feel a connection to his own key.

"It must have been him!" Gemi said.

"He touched all of our keys!" Mini added.

"He must have used his shadow magic to block our connection to Lucy!" Sagittarius said, looking angry for the first time.

Leo gritted his teeth. "Now she is going on a job and has that guy beside her. If he went to the trouble of blocking us that must mean that his target is Lucy herself. Since she can't summon us…" He trailed off, wanting with all his might to punch something.

"There is nothing we can do to protect her."

* * *

**And another chapter posted. I don't know why I had so much trouble writing this one, but I deleted and restarted it about 3 or 4 times. Any ways, please review and tell me your opinions on this fic, good or bad I welcome them all! I haven't really gotten any on this so I wasn't sure if I should continue this or not, but there are a few people that seem to like it so I am writing this for them, I would never be someone who leaves something unfinished. Thanks for the support and I will start working on the next chapter as soon as humanly possible so I can post it for you guys. Have a great day!  
**

**Disclaimer: Same as the last two chapters**

**Again, please tell me if the chapters are long enough for you guys.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wanted to say a quick thank you to Rinkika, star, and xLyneex for reviewing and supporting my fan fiction!**

**Also a special thanks to FruhlingDragon for catching a hidden joke from the third chapter. If you want to know what it was, guess you will just have to read their review or find it yourself :) **

**Disclaimer: Same as the last three chapters**

**Now, on to the fourth chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Natsu's POV:**_

"Natsu, you're growling again." Happy said quietly, most likely a little worried about his friend.

Natsu just crossed his arms and sighed. They had been walking for over an hour just to find their way out of the city, almost making it to the edge of the forest where these robbers were allegedly hiding out. During the entire time Natsu had to deal with Lucy and Cole flirting in front of him, holding hands and talking about how great their date was last night. Apparently he wasn't too good at hiding his annoyance, because that was the eighth time Happy had caught him growling and warned him before Lucy could notice. He had smirked in pleasure when Happy had told him about how one of Lucy Spirits had burned Cole's hand. At least someone else shared in his suspicions, and he would gladly high five that Spirit… Unless it was Aquarius. Natsu didn't fear many things, but that women scared him more than anything.

Lucy turned to look and him and he instantly plastered on a fake smile. No matter how annoyed he was, he could never take his anger out on Lucy because she was his best friend.

"Natsu, hurry up, you're falling behind!" She called with an amused smile, "Usually it's me trying my best to keep up to you!"

Natsu shrugged, "Just enjoying the scenery!" He lied.

Lucy gave him a slightly confused look before turning back. His smile automatically fell from his face. He saw Cole look down at her with what seemed to be a soft kind of expression, but there was something else in his eyes, something that was there and gone so fast that Natsu didn't have time to see exactly what it was. Happy nudged him again, and Natsu wanted to punch something.

"Are you mad because Cole is dating Lucy?" Happy asked suddenly.

Natsu frowned. Sure he wasn't really happy about the whole situation. Lucy knew that he didn't trust this guy, and yet she had agreed to go out with him. He recalled the conversation he had overheard back at the guild. He was careful not to look at the gossiping girls so that they wouldn't know he was eavesdropping, but he couldn't help it. They were talking about Lucy and Cole so he automatically used his sharper hearing to listen in. He was doing well up to the point where Mirajane had demanded if he had kissed her or not, then his head snapped up and his eyes bore into Lucy's back, listening intently for the answer. Now that he thought about it, she didn't actually answer the question. Natsu stared at Lucy now, trying to figure it out for himself. Even if Lucy had gone on a date with that guy, he found it hard to believe that she would kiss him right off the bat like that. He knew her better than anyone, and he also knew that she had never had a boyfriend before, so Lucy would probably be too shy to kiss him so early. He felt a sense of relief, and then confusion washed over him. What was the real reason he was happy that Lucy hadn't kissed him, or hopefully hadn't? Sure it was because he didn't like Cole, but was there another reason?

Natsu was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that they had arrived at the forest, and he bumped right into Lucy's back. She gave him an annoyed look and he gave her a sheepish grin.

"Sorry about that, I was just lost in thought." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him and he silently cursed himself. Natsu wasn't a complete idiot, but he knew that he wasn't the one to really think too hard about anything, especially while on a job.

"Anyway… This is the entrance to the forest where the robbers are said to be hiding. How do you think we should handle this?" Lucy asked.

Natsu opened his mouth to reply, but Cole beat him to it.

"From what the request said there should only be four or five of them, easy enough for any one of us to take down alone. So we should split up and look for them, it will be way faster that way. When one of us finds them we should just send up a flare of magic power when they are taken care of, just to tell the rest of us where you are and that the job is complete." Cole said, his voice all business.

Natsu glared daggers at him. "That's a bad idea. We don't know what kind of magic that these people could have. We shouldn't risk having to fight them alone, especially if one of us will have a disadvantage to them." He retorted.

Lucy turned on him and crossed her arms. "Are you implying that I wouldn't be able to handle them on my own?" She demanded.

Natsu's jaw dropped. "Wait, that's not what-"

"Just because I'm not some ability-type wizard or I'm the weakest on our team doesn't mean that I can't take care of myself!" She snapped. "I'll go North, Cole you go East and Natsu you go West. We are going with Cole's plan because it's the best one we have. If there is no signal within two hours we will all regroup back here." With a last furious glare at Natsu she stormed off into the forest, her figure quickly becoming obscured by the trees and foliage.

Cole seemed to smirk at him before also taking off into the forest, going his respected way.

"Lucy didn't even count me!" Happy pouted.

Natsu was frozen in place, his mouth hanging open while staring after her in shock. What the hell had just happened? He had just mentioned that it could be dangerous to go alone, and for some reason Lucy had acted if he had personally offended her. What was wrong with women, always over-reacting to everything! Still, even though he had absolutely no idea what he had done, he still felt bad. If Lucy was mad at him, that means he must have said something insulting to her.

"Happy, what did I say wrong?" He asked, looking at his flying blue friend desperately.

Happy stared at him for a moment, and then just shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder how you have survived this long, Natsu." He said just loud enough for the dragon slayer to hear.

Natsu crossed his arms with a victorious smile. "Because I'm the strongest dragon slayer in Fiore!" He said triumphantly.

Happy just shook his head again in exasperation and flew off into the forest, leaving Natsu to follow him, muttering about how true his statement was. They had been searching for a long time, and to Natsu's annoyance they had found absolutely nothing. Happy, who had been flying in lazy circles above his head, plopped down on his shoulder and sighed.

"Natsu, can't you sniff them out or something?" He whined.

Natsu looked at him from the corner of his eye. "You're always boasting about your amazing sense of smell, why don't you do it?"

"Because I'm too hungry to smell anything!" He muttered.

Natsu shook his head. "Are you kidding, you just ate four fish! And that doesn't even make sense." He tacked on under his breath. "I honestly can't make out any scents. There are so many strange plants and flowers in this forest that I can't even lock on to Lucy's or Cole's scents. It's weird…"

After a little longer of searching, Natsu finally threw his hands in the air, flames starting to dance across his palms. "Maybe if I just set the forest on fire it will smoke them out!" He said with a grin.

Happy rolled his eyes. "I don't even think I should have to explain why that's a bad idea. Hasn't it been two hours already? We haven't seen anyone's magic signal so maybe we should go back to the meeting place."

Natsu hesitated. "But if they haven't found them either, that means that they are still hiding in this forest somewhere. If Lucy decided to go back to the meeting place this could be the perfect opportunity to find them before she does. I don't want her to get hurt." He murmured.

Happy smiled winningly at him, "You llllllike her." He trilled.

Natsu went to tell him off, but he didn't find the words. There it was again, that weird feeling in his chest that he got every time he thought about Lucy. What was wrong with him? Maybe he was getting sick? No, he had never been sick a day in his life, so that can't be it. Than what was the reason?

"Hey Happy, what does-"

A pained shriek pierced through the quiet forest, successfully shutting him up. His eyes widened in shock and alarm, instantly recognizing the voice as Lucy's.

"Lucy's in trouble, Happy let's go!" He yelled, taking off sprinting.

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed in determination, using his wings to fling him forward and grab on to Natsu's shirt, flying them at max speed in the direction of Lucy's scream.

_Hang on, Luce, I'm coming for you._

* * *

_**Levi's POV:**_

Levi was laughing with Jet and Droy as they watched Panther-Lily and Gajeel argue about whether Kiwi's tasted good or not. Lily was going all out with his defense of the deliciousness of his favorite food, but Levi could tell that Gajeel was only arguing it because he was teasing the powerful Exceed. She could tell because he wasn't really fighting too much, and he had an amused look in his eyes the entire time. Her attention was distracted when she noticed the guild doors open, revealing Gray and Erza walking in while they were having what seemed to be a heated discussing about what job they should take next.

Levi waved at them kindly. "Hey, guys! What's up?" She asked.

Erza walked up with Gray in tow, who was looking slightly annoyed. Most likely because he had just lost the argument about the future job. Why did he even bother, it was always obvious that Erza was going to win.

"Hello, Levi. Have you seen Natsu and Lucy yet today? We have a job for us that pay's very well. Lucy's rent is coming up and I had a feeling that she would be panicking about it by now." Erza said, smiling at her own observation of her friend, albeit a true one.

"Oh, didn't you know? Cole was looking for a job to take Lu-chan on. I'm pretty sure that they had left already. I don't know where Natsu is though." She answered.

Cana walked up and slid in beside her on the bench, pushing Droy out of the way so she could get closer to them. "Didn't you know? Natsu took Lucy on a job and she asked Cole to tag along. Apparently it's a pretty routine one; catch some robbers hidden out in the forest." She informed them, waving her hand apologetically at Droy who took the seat beside her, muttering about rude drunk women in the guild.

Levi looked at Cana in surprise. "Robbers in the woods? That's the job that Cole wanted to take Lucy on. You're saying that Natsu was the one who accepted it?"

Cana nodded, downing the rest of her drink and Jet wrinkled his nose at the foul smell of alcohol. Cana noticed his disgust and grinned evilly. "Why don't you get a few drinks in ya, stop being so prudish!" She teased.

Jet huffed, looking slightly embarrassed. "I've gotten drunk before, but it doesn't really fit me that well." He said hotly, his cheeks slightly pink.

Droy laughed. "Ya, the last time he got drunk he started running around the guild at top speed and ended up running face first into a wall and breaking his nose. He's just lucky Wendy was there to heal him."

Jet glared at Cana and Droy as they laughed loudly at him, but Levi was ignoring them. Instead she got up and went over to Mirajane, followed by a confused Erza and Gray.

"Mira-chan, why did Natsu take the job that Cole had taken before him?" Levi asked the S-class wizard.

Mirajane looked at her in confusion. "Cole never took that job. You're right that he was going to, but then he noticed Natsu also looking at it so he ended up not taking it. I think he's just trying his best to get on Natsu's good side." She said with a hopeful smile.

Levi frowned, her mind going to work. "So either way, Lu-chan was going to go on that job." She said, mostly to herself.

Gray crossed his arms, eyebrows pulled in. "What are you saying Levi?"

Levi started pacing back in forth, her mind going crazy with the paranoid thoughts she was having, but the feeling in her gut told her that it wasn't paranoia. "Did anyone notice how quickly Cole seemed to take to her? I mean sure, Lu-chan is a very attractive girl, but it was literally the moment she walked through the door that day. He had been by her side every moment after that, constantly walking with her and flirting with her, almost as if he was doing everything he could to get close to her."

"You're starting to sound like Natsu." Mira said in amusement.

Levi suddenly stopped, a cold feeling spreading through her veins. "What if Natsu was right? Remember, he said that Cole smelled funny, that he smelled _dark._"

"But that's only because he is a Shadow mage." Erza pointed out.

Levi shook her head. "No, that's not it. Gajeel never mentioned him smelling dark when I asked if he felt the same way. If that was the case, Natsu would have said the same thing about Rogue from Sabertooth, but he didn't."

Gray looked at her in concern. "Levi, I think you're reaching for something that isn't there." He said softly.

Levi turned on him. "I think I'm right about this. Natsu has been telling the truth the entire time. Why would Cole give up a job with Lucy so easily? I doubt it's to get on Natsu's good side, he actually doesn't seem to like Natsu at all."

"But he wouldn't have known that Lucy would go with Natsu on this, and he couldn't have known that Lucy would ask to go with him." Erza said, looking as if she was questioning her sanity.

Levi bit her lip at this. They had a point; maybe she was just making stuff up because she was worried about Lu-chan. She went to say so when Master Makarov appeared at the stairs, walking towards them while holding an envelope and a grim look on his face.

"Master, is there something wrong?" Mirajane asked worriedly.

Makarov had his eyes closed for a moment before fixing them with an intense look. "I just received a letter from Sting, the new Master of Sabertooth who sent one to every guild. If what he says is true, then there could be major trouble. Where are Lucy and Cole?" He asked in an uncharacteristically serious voice.

"They took a job with Natsu and Happy, they left about an hour ago. Why?" Levi asked, her heart starting to beat fast in panic.

"If that's the case, then Lucy is in serious danger."


	5. Chapter 5

**And finally I have finished Chapter 5... I hope you guys enjoy it, this will be my longest chapter yet! **

**Thanks again to one who named the review Make more, Psyka, and xLyneex for reviewing and supporting!**

**Lillia Enchanted: Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, guess you will just need to read to find out ;)**

**Disclaimer: Same as the last four chapters.**

**Now sit back, relax, and then yell at me for writing this. On to the 5th chapter!**

* * *

_**Cole's POV:**_

Cole tripped over a hidden root and cursed under his breath. That has happened countless times already and it was really starting to piss him off.

"Why couldn't I have a more useful magic this time? Shadow weapons are pretty much useless unless I'm in a fight!" He muttered savagely, "Also, where the hell are these guys? I've been looking for almost two hours and not a single trace of them! They're about as useful as shadow magic."

He tripped again and this time lashed out at a tree with a furious yell. "I am so done with this forest!"

"If it wasn't for this forest your plan would never have worked. The Salamander would have found us and kicked our asses already." A voice made him whirl around.

In front of him was a bulky grown man in what seemed to be overalls, dark blue with a brown belt. He was grinning darkly at him, dark grey eyes narrowed at the younger guy, "Even though he isn't actually supposed to be here. I knew we shouldn't have given you such an important job."

Cole crossed his arms and glared at him, "Seriously, Kyro? This entire thing was my idea! You and your lackeys only joined me because you wanted to crush Fairy Tail." He smirked, "Not that you could anyways, it only took three of their members to wipe out your old dark guild."

Kyro growled "That bastard Raijinshuu tribe. They defeated everyone in Ghoul Spirit while we were out on a job. If I had been there, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly for them."

Cole rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Have you found Lucy yet? This entire thing is pointless if Natsu finds them first."

"Don't worry; my guys are circling her as we speak. You did what I told you to, right?" Kyro asked him.

Cole grinned and nodded. "Yep, at least this magic was useful for something. Her keys are completely covered. There is no way her Celestial Spirits will be able to save their precious master, or should I say old master."

A pained cry pierced the air, making Cole turn his head sharply in that direction. "What the hell? I told you not to hurt her! If your men kill her than this is all for nothing!" He snapped.

Kyro shrugged, offering Cole a sadistic smile. "I don't think my guys really care about your 'master plan'. That wizard is loved by those flies. If she dies, then that will be a good way to start with our revenge on them."

Cole glared at him once more before taking off running.

"I warned you not to get attached! I hope in the end you will still be able to go through with it!" Kyro called after him, his booming laugh echoing through the quiet forest.

_No worries there, _Cole thought as he ran at top speed. _This is all for power. I've done this countless times before, so taking everything from this girl will be as simple as falling off a log. She means nothing; her life means nothing in the long run._

* * *

_**Lucy's POV:**_

Lucy almost yelled out in frustration as the tip of her boot caught on another tree root, making her twist her ankle painfully.

"This is the last time I let Natsu pick the job." She grumbled.

Thinking of Natsu made her instantly feel guilty. Her dense team mate didn't always know what he was saying, let alone know if what he said was insulting. She shouldn't have snapped at him like that, he didn't really deserve it. Lucy sighed when she thought about Cole. What did he think about her feral attack on Natsu? Did he think she was crazy now? Was he having regrets about asking her out? Cole had never actually seen that side of her before, and maybe because of it he would change his mind about her. She recalled the time that she accidentally turned herself invisible, and how she had overheard her guild mates talking about how any guy she got would have to be good at dealing with wild beasts, a 'real man' as Elfman had said. Lucy kicked at a fallen branch crossly, but she knew she was only mad because they were right; she was anything but lady-like, but she wouldn't like herself if she acted like the princess she had to be before she ran away from home.

"Hmmm, it's almost been two hours, maybe I should start-"

Lucy's words ended in a shriek when she just narrowly dodged an arc of silver. She rolled out of the way and turned back just in time to see a sword being yanked from a tree that she had been standing beside a moment earlier. The guy wearing blue overalls with a grey belt was facing her, but she couldn't see his face because he was wearing a mask. The ground below her started to shake and she jumped to the side as a fissure opened up, then closed just as quickly.

"We weren't told that she was fast." A voice complained beside her.

There was another guy with the same type of outfit and mask, but his belt was dark green. A third one walked up, wearing an orange belt.

"Would you rather we were up against their dragon slayer? My fire magic is top notch, but even I'll admit that I can't hold a candle to that guy." Orange belt muttered.

"Not to mention the rumor is that he can also use lightning now." Green belt informed him.

Orange belt turned to face him, "Seriously? Man, just when I think I'm catching up to him!"

Lucy stared at them, her face blank. _What the… Are these guys for real?_

Grey belt shook his head. "Do you guys honestly think that this is the time or place? If we don't do this properly, Kyro is going to kill us." He hissed at them.

Lucy smiled at them, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of a fight. "If you guys are serious, then this should be easy." She reached for her belt and took out two keys. "Gate of the Lion and Gate of the Goat, I open thee, Loke and Capricorn!"

The three guys tensed and took up a defensive pose, but nothing happened. Lucy was still, her eyes starting to widen in shock.

"Fine, gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee, Taurus!" She called, her voice starting to shake.

Dead silence. Lucy took a few steps back, shock quickly being replaced by anger. Why were her spirits not answering her? She was in real danger now! Did she do something to make them mad? Even so, they would never just leave her for dead. Gritting her teeth, she gripped her whip and uncoiled it, facing them down with a glare.

"It doesn't matter; I can take all of you by myself." She warned, making sure to hide her own doubts about her abilities.

"I'm surprised you aren't trying to run, especially when you don't have your precious spirits to protect you." Orange belt sneered, "Not that it would matter; Pursek here can track you anywhere, thus is his magic."

Lucy's grip tightened. She hadn't intended to run, but the fact that she couldn't if she wanted to didn't exactly improve her circumstances. In one swift movement, she flicked her wrist and her whip curled around orange belts ankle. She pulled back hard and he flew into the air, turning a few times before she threw him into a tree, the impact shaking it.

"Luke!" Green belt yelled, but the fire mage didn't answer.

He turned back to glare at Lucy, his eyes furious. "You bitch! How dare you do that to him?"

Lucy responded by moving her whip again in one polished move, catching his wrist. She went to pull again when another flash of silver appeared, cutting her whip in half. Her jaw dropped in shock and sadness. Virgo had given her that Fleuve d'étoiles! Before she had time to react the guy named Pursek was on the move, his movements so fast that her eyes couldn't follow. In an instant, pain flared up the side of her stomach, causing her to cry out. She fell to one knee and cupped her side, her hand coming away red with her blood. Her whip was slashed in half and her spirits weren't answering her call. She was virtually defenseless against two healthy and powerful mages.

"Dude, you could have killed her!" Green belt gasped, "The boss would be pissed if she died!"

"Shut up, Tarrel! That little boy is not our boss. Besides, this could be our marking blow against Fairy Tail. Don't you want to make them suffer for destroying our guild?" Pursek demanded.

Tarrel scratched his head, not meeting the trackers eyes. "Ya I want revenge, but I didn't think we would be killing anyone." He muttered.

Pursek raised his sword in a high arc, a wild grin on his face. "It's too bad you won't survive to see us destroy your family. Good bye, Celestial Wizard." He practically purred.

A pure black sword stopped the silvers sword descent. Lucy looked up in shock to see a tall guy with dark brown hair in front of her, stopping the blow with a sword made of shadows.

"Cole!" She breathed thankfully.

He didn't glance at her. "Sorry it took me so long to find you. Glad I made it in time though." He said in a terrifying voice.

Cole slashed Pursek's sword to the side and elbowed him in in the face, causing him to rear back. He glared at Cole for a moment, blood pouring out of his nose, before turning around and escaping into the trees. Cole turned to stare down Tarrel, who raised his hands and backed up slowly before also vanishing in the forest. If Lucy thought it was odd how easily they gave up, she didn't say anything, only sighed gratefully as Cole helped her to her feet and held her at arms-length, eyes looking her over for any other wounds than the one on her side. When he saw that she was okay he pulled her into a tight hug, making her smile against his chest.

"Thank god I got here in time; he was going to kill you." He whispered beside her ear.

Lucy cuddled against him gratefully. "But they didn't, thanks to you." She murmured.

One of his arms left her back, but he still held her tightly. "I don't know what I would have done if they had killed you." He continued quietly.

Lucy pulled away a little so she could look at his face. "Well, I guess you don't have to worry about that."

His dark blue eyes were filled with relief, and the smile slipped off of Lucy's face. He was grinning down at her, but it wasn't the soft and loving smile he always gave her. No, this one was filled with malice and triumph, sending a shiver down her spine.

"You're right; I don't have to worry about someone else killing you. They knew I needed power, so they knew that I would have punished them for taking your life." He said sweetly.

Lucy began to pull away, "Cole, what-"

Searing white-hot pain pierced her stomach, choking off her words. She looked down at the shadow dagger sheathed in her abdomen, and then looked back up into Cole's cold eyes. He pushed harder against the dagger, making her cough up blood.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I really did care about you." He murmured before stepping back, leaving the knife, "But the only way to make a contract with your spirits is to kill their previous owner. So thank you for giving me so many keys."

Lucy fell to her knees as Cole began reaching for her belt. A black tide was beginning to engulf her, but she was trying desperately to hold on to consciousness. Cole jumped back suddenly, and Lucy distantly felt burning heat blow her hair away from her face. Strong arms encircled her, pulling her against an unusually warm object. The last thing she saw was frantic green and onyx eyes, and then she let the wave of darkness take over her.

* * *

_**Natsu's POV:**_

The cry of pain had led him in the right direction, but soon Happy had no idea which way to go next. Demanding that he be put down, he started sprinting. He couldn't explain how he knew which way to go, but the feeling in his gut led him, and he trusted that feeling instantly because Natsu knew that it would lead him to Lucy. His heart raced at the thought of Lucy being hurt, and he instantly blamed himself. He should have forced her to go with him; he _knew_ that going alone was a terrible idea. If anything bad happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

"Stay safe, I'm so close." He panted, dodging under a low hanging branch and skipping over tree roots.

The first thing he saw when he burst into the clearing was a guy in a blue suit and mask knocked unconscious against a tree, but he soon forgot about that. He looked over and saw Cole pulling Lucy to her feet, checking her over before pulling her into a tight embrace. Relief washed over him when he saw that she was okay. The sight of Lucy in Cole's arms made him turn away though, anger boiling in his stomach. Natsu was unbelievably grateful that Lucy was okay, but he couldn't help getting upset that Cole had been the one to protect her. It was always Natsu who had saved Lucy, and he had prided himself in his ability to keep her safe. He just sighed, turning back to the unconscious guy.

"I guess the others got away." He said to Happy, "Let's tie this guy up so we have at least one to bring back." He dug some rope out of his bag and tied up the guys' hands and feet. "Once we have recovered we can continue our search for the other ones."

"I'm just happy Lucy is okay." Happy said with a huge smile on his furry face.

Natsu nodded in agreement. He stood up and heard a small gasp. He looked over at the two of them curiously, and his blood ran cold. Cole was letting go of a dagger that was embedded in Lucy's stomach, and as she fell to her knees it disintegrated. Natsu's momentary freeze ended the instant Cole began reaching for Lucy again.

"You son of a bitch!" He yelled, running at them, "Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

Cole dodged the wall of flames aimed at him, looking at Natsu in shock as he rolled to his feet. He cast Lucy a furious and desperate look, and with a final glare at Natsu he ran off into the forest. Natsu didn't even give him a second thought. He fell to his knees in front of Lucy and caught her before she could fall to the cold ground.

"Luce! Lucy, look at me!" He cried, holding her in his arms and forcing her to look at him.

He watched as her usually bright brown eyes met his for a moment and then closed, her body going limp against him.

"No no no no no, Luce, come on Luce open your eyes!" He yelled, shaking her slightly.

Her head only lolled to the side, and he felt as if his entire world was falling around him. He buried his face into her neck for a moment before rearing back and screaming.

"LUCY!"

* * *

_**Wendy's POV:**_

The last few days of her life had been absolutely amazing. She had accepted Romeo's proposal of going on a mission with him, and with Charle in company they had a great few days. All they had to do was escort a train carrying precious gems to some wealthy family only a day away, so they got to spend the entire time just hanging out and getting to know each other even better. Though she would never say it out loud, she kind of wished that it had been only her and Romeo, especially because Charle had acted as a chaperone to the working teenagers. Without having Team Natsu there that meant that nothing was burned, frozen or destroyed so they had both gotten the full reward, and it was a nice change of pace. After getting off the train back in Magnolia Romeo had surprised her by hugging her, thanking her for coming on this job with him. Wendy had gone completely red at that, telling him that she was happy to go with him. Romeo had pulled away and grinned.

"We should go on other jobs together! We make a good team." He said as his own cheeks went slightly pink as well.

Wendy smiled shyly and nodded. "I'd really like to!"

And with that they made their way back to the guild, laughing and talking as they went. Neither of them had any idea of what awaited them. They heard the yelling and panicked voices from outside the guild. With a shocked look at each other they pushed the doors open and ran in. People were shouting and calling other people around the guild, and from what Wendy could hear, they were making battle plans. Romeo and her went over to where Erza, Gray, Levi and Makarov were talking quickly, making a lot of angry hand motions.

"What's going on, Erza-nee?" Romeo asked.

Levi turned to them, her eyes terrified. "We just got a letter from Sabertooth. A guy fitting Cole's description had joined their guild four months ago. It was only a month later when he had attacked Yukino, their Celestial Spirit Wizard. If it wasn't for Rogue she would be dead right now. Yukino told them that he was after her keys." She said in a shrill voice.

Wendy's eyes widened in shock, "But, that means that Cole-san is going to attack Lucy-san!" She gasped.

Makarov nodded solemnly. "They took a job together with Natsu only an hour or so ago. We are sending a team after them right now."

Erza nodded. "I will go. Gray, Gajeel, you come as well. Romeo and Wendy will join me as well. We don't know what will happen before we make it to them, and we might need Wendy's healing abilities. Gajeel, you can track them, right?" She demanded.

Gajeel walked up and nodded. "Yep, their scents are easy to pick up. When we find that Cole guy I can take him down, that is if the Salamander hasn't already burnt him to a crisp."

Erza nodded. "There is no time to waste. We leave now."

The train ride out of the city was tense, no one speaking due to the fear for their friends. It was a tough ride, not being able to do anything the entire time. Gray started getting frustrated and pacing back and forth in the isle, glaring at the floor. Even Erza looked annoyed, her fingers tapping against her leg every so often as she stared out the window.

"If Cole has even laid a pinky on Lucy-nee, I'll burn him." Romeo said darkly, and Wendy smiled weakly at him, knowing full well how protective he was for Lucy-san and Natsu-san.

The moment they were off the train, Gajeel sniffed the air. "They went this way." He said, and the group took off running.

The scent led them into a forest. She noticed that Gajeel face was screwed up in concentration, his sprinting pace slowing down to a brisk walk.

"All these flowers are messing with their scent; I'm having a really difficult time following it," He growled, "Shit!"

"Just keep walking in the general direction of their scent; we don't have any time to lose." Gray said and Gajeel nodded, picking up his pace again.

A few moments later a new scent hit them, strong enough for even Wendy to pick up.

"Gajeel, I-"

"Ya, I smell it too." He cut her off, "It's the smell of blood."

Before Erza could say anything an agonized cry pierced the air.

"LUCY!"

Without another hesitation they took off sprinting again, following Natsu's cry and the sharp smell of blood. What Wendy saw when they entered the clearing would give her nightmares for the rest of her life. Natsu was holding a limp and pale blond against him, a pool of blood beneath her. Happy was sobbing uncontrollably beside them, holding the girls hand against his little face. Natsu looked up at their approach, eyes red and puffy and his face soaked with tears.

"Please…" He choked out, his voice cracking, "Please, save her."


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm finally finished with this chapter! I meant to publish it yesterday but I just wasn't happy with it yet so I spent the majority of today fixing it and changing almost all of it. Sorry guys! But hey, at least I'm not just dropping the story.  
**

**Rose Tiger: I guess you will just have to keep reading ;)**

**Lillia Enchanted: The candle joke was actually completely intentional. I just love magic fire mage related jokes lol**

**Disclaimer: Same as the last 5 chapters**

**Now on to the 6th chapter!**

* * *

_**Natsu's POV:**_

Natsu was confused. What was happening? Why was he crying? He never cried, because he was the mighty Salamander! He hadn't cried since the day Igneel had vanished…But there was also the day he had thought Lisanna had died. Actually, he hadn't cried since Gildarts had passed him in the s-class wizard's advancement exam. Another lie, the last time he had cried was when he had watched future Lucy die at the hands of future Rogue, and he hadn't been able to save her. A painful jolt at the thought of Lucy shot through his body, allowing his other senses the chance to catch up with what was happening around him.

"-into shock. We need to snap him out of it." Erza's was saying, her muted voice becoming clearer.

"I think I can help." Wendy said.

Natsu felt a sudden warm glow spread through him, as if trying to coax him into coming back to reality. What did they mean he was in shock? And where the hell had they come from anyways? The last thing he remembered was walking through the forest with Happy when he suddenly heard-

His eyes began to widen in horror as his memory came crashing back, hitting him so hard he was almost knocked off the chair he was slouching in. Luce, he had heard Lucy scream so he had run as fast as he could. She was fine when Natsu had found her, but he turned his back for just one moment and Cole had stabbed her, killing his precious blond friend, his precious Luce. Fury raced through him, anger like he had never experienced before beginning to consume him. Wendy jumped back with a gasp of shock when flames erupted around his body, and he stood up slowly. Death was the only thing racing through his head now, and he would be happy to give it to Cole the moment he tracked that bastard down.

"Where is he?" He said slowly, his voice dark and his eyes in narrow slits as he faced down the scared blue haired teenager.

"Natsu, you need to calm down." Grays voice sounded beside him.

He snapped his head to the side to look at the ice mage, but Gray held his glare.

"He killed her, he killed Lucy and you're telling me to calm down!" He yelled, about to go over the edge.

Gray still faced him calmly, but his eyes were pained. "Natsu, Lucy isn't dead."

_Lucy isn't dead, _those three words rang through his head, but he couldn't comprehend them for a moment. His flames died down in his uncertainty, and Erza took the opportunity to put both of her hands on his shoulders and shake him, forcing him to look at her. Even Erza's eyes were red rimmed, as if the requip mage had been crying recently.

" ' ." She said in a stern voice, keeping eye contact with him.

He stared at her blankly for a few moments before their words finally reached him. He took a gasping breath and put a hand against the wall for support, looking around for the first time. They were in the guilds infirmary, familiar white walls and medical supplies everywhere telling him as much. He had no idea how they had gotten here in the first place, he only had a dim memory of holding something tightly in his arms and refusing to let go. He looked past them to the small crowd gathered at the farthest corner of the room, and in an instant he shoved past his three friends and walked shakily over to mass of people. Levi looked up at Natsu as he got closer, trying her best to calm her sobbing.

"Natsu-"

"How many times have I told you kids to move? How am I supposed to save this girls life if you guys are constantly in my way!" Poluchka's voice interrupted whatever Levi was going to say.

The people crowding the room consisted of Mirajane, Lisanna, Levi, Jet, Droy, Cana, and surprisingly Fried.

"We understand. Allow me to finish applying the protecting runes around the infirmary and I will take my leave as well." Fried said in an apologetic voice, dipping his head respectfully.

Poluchka grunted but didn't argue with the green-haired man. Putting on a brave face and sniffling slightly, Mirajane softly motioned for everyone to move back. She gave him a last, heartbroken look before leaving him alone, not counting the elderly healer. With the cluster of guild mates gone, he could finally catch a glimpse or Lucy. The sight of his fallen friend brought the dragon slayer to his knees beside her bed. She was sickly pale, her eyes bruised and shirt rucked up slightly to show the gaping wound in her stomach. Black veins cascaded away from the wound, so far reaching to wrap around her torso and started its slow ascent towards her heart. If it wasn't for the shallow rise and fall of her chest, Natsu would have been completely convinced that she was dead. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the weak sound of her heart beating. It may not have been comforting in its unusual rhythm, but it was still beating, and it calmed Natsu down and gave him hope.

"I've almost finished with the runes. Anyone with a dark heart and malicious intents may not pass through this barrier as long as Lucy is unconscious." Natsu distantly heard Fried explaining to Erza and Gray.

"Thank you. We still don't know where Cole, or whoever he is, has gone. One thing we do know is that he wants Lucy dead, and I have no doubt that he is going to try again." Erza said quietly.

"What are we going to do about the guy we brought back with us?" Gray asked, his voice sounding venomous.

Natsu could basically feel the murderous aura Erza was emitting. "You don't need to worry about that. I plan on taking care of it, and by the time I am finished with him, we will know everything about what is going on."

Despite himself, Natsu shuddered, thanking whatever was out there that Erza's anger wasn't directed at him. He opened his eyes and pulled a chair closer, sitting down on the edge. Slowly, he reached out and took Lucy hand, flinching because of how cold she was. He focused on his magic and worked to transfer some of his natural body heat to her. If that dragon lady was mad that he was there, she didn't say anything, only continued to put together herbal remedies that she hoped would work on Lucy's wound.

"I won't be leaving your side again, not until you wake up." He whispered, squeezing her hand lightly, "And the minute you do wake up, I am going to hunt Cole down and drag him right back here; only so you can watch as I beat him one hundred times over for hurting you. That's a promise."

_**Levi's POV:**_

Levi wasn't exactly what you would call a fighter; but if her friends needed her she wouldn't hesitate to put everything on the line for them. She was classified as the 'book worm', the small girl who is useful when they needed something researched or some ancient language deciphered. Her complete opposite in the guild was the iron dragon slayer, Gajeel. He loved to fight more than anything, and he hated trying to keep the peace. He has never fessed up to even looking sideways at a book, and his vocabulary was limited to mostly insults. So that being said, how did it end up that Gajeel was trying to calm down a furious Levi who was screaming bloody murder at the guy tied up in the middle of the guild? She never let her emotions get the better or her, but after seeing her best friend Lu-chan slowly dying because of these people, she had basically snapped.

"Let me go! I'm going to kill him!" Levi shrieked, fighting against Gajeel's hold on her.

"Oi, Shrimp, you need to calm down." He said gruffly.

"Not until that bastard is dead!" She yelled, aiming a few weak punches at Gajeel's chest to try and escape.

A few people in the guild turned to stare at the Solid Script mage, basically in shock at hearing her swear, which she rarely ever does.

"Maybe Fried should also put runes around this guy to save his life." Wakaba said quietly.

Romeo crossed his arms, his eyes dark with poorly disguised hatred. "I say we let Levi knock him around a bit, and then I get a turn after. He doesn't deserve mercy." He growled, making his father Macao give him a worried look.

"I'm going to sit you down, but if you make a break for it I am going to handcuff you to this table." Gajeel muttered.

Levi cursed him silently but sat down, fidgeting the entire time. She looked up as Fried walked out of the infirmary, holding up his sword as he put the final touches on the rune barrier. Almost the exact moment he finished, a golden light shimmered in front of them. When the light died down a tall guy wearing a suit and sunglasses was standing there, his fiery orange hair unkempt and his posture worn out.

"Loke?" Mirajane gasped from beside Levi.

Leo the Lion turned to look at them, and Levi felt cold. There were bags under his eyes and his mouth was turned in a frown, face extremely pale. What scared her though was the look in his eyes. They looked wild, filled with anger and such a strong look of grief that she almost had to look away. At Mira's exclamation, Erza and Gray walked out of the infirmary, looking at their old friend blankly. Levi noticed with a twinge of pain that Natsu did not follow.

"I'm here to see Lucy, but I expected that you would all want to ask me some questions." He said bluntly, showing no warmth to his guild mates.

Erza stepped up to him first. "Natsu hasn't been able to say anything about what happened, can you tell us?" She asked carefully.

Loki nodded. "It started when Lucy was on the train with Natsu and Cole. That person did something to all of our keys, used some form of shadow magic on them and Lucy didn't know. We were trapped in the spirit world, unable to help our owner when she called us and needed us most." His voice cracked, "I should have been strong enough to break through, I should have been able-"

"Don't even start with that." Gray interrupted tiredly, "Everyone in the guild wants to blame themselves for not being able to save her, for not figuring out what he was really after. All we can do now is protect her and hunt the fucker down." He said with a cold fire in his eyes.

Loke nodded and continued. "She dodged a sword that one of them swung at her, and then she tried to call out me and Capricorn, and then when that didn't work, Taurus. One of the mages has a form of earth magic, and the one who swung the sword is apparently a tracker."

"So even if we try to move Lucy somewhere safer they will just find her." Lisanna sighed.

Loke's eyes narrowed at the guy tied up, and orange belt gave him a grin.

"Hey there, my name is Luke, nice to meet you." He said, giving him a wink.

Levi noticed light start to circle around Loke's fist, and Gray must have as well because he walked over and put a firm hand on his shoulder. "Finish explaining and kick his ass later." He said quietly.

Levi huffed. "I don't think so, I've already called dibs."

"Anyways, Lucy didn't back down. She used her whip to send this guy flying into a tree and knocked him out." Loke continued, actually smiling despite himself.

"Lucky shot." Luke muttered, but he was ignored.

"After that Lucy tried to take out the earth mage-"

"-His name is Tarrel, not that you would care-"

"-But the tracker-"

"-And his name is Pursek-"

"SHUT UP!" Several voices shouted at once, making him just grin and shrug.

Loke cast him an annoyed look. "The tracker cut her whip and also cut her across her side. It was Cole who stopped him from killing her, and I guess they took the cue and escaped into the forest somewhere. Natsu showed up and tied up this guy here, and Cole must not have noticed him there when he… when he stabbed her with that shadow dagger. When Fried put up those runes, the magic on our keys must have been dispelled. Virgo is in the room with Lucy and Natsu right now." When Loke finished with his explanation his shoulders slumped and a look of total defeat adorned his face.

"You don't need to worry; we are going to cure her. Poluchka and Wendy are going to save her." Erza said, sounding as if she was also trying to convince herself.

Luke snorted, catching their attention again.

"What?" Mirajane demanded, her soft voice sharp.

He looked at her innocently. "What, now you want me to talk?"

"That's it! I'm gonna kill him!" Levi shrieked.

Levi jumped up and ran at him before anyone could react. She summoned all of her strength and punched him full in the face, sending his chair toppling back and he hit his head hard on the guild floor. Gajeel was there in an instant, grabbing her arms and dragging her back. True to his word he manipulated some silverware to handcuff her to the table. Everyone was silent for a moment, looking to be in complete shock at what the kind-hearted girl just did. A moment later there were cheers all around, laughing and talking about what a great swing she had. Gajeel still looked annoyed, but a small smile had crept on to his face.

Luke groaned as Erza walked over and righted his chair. Due to Levi's right hook the left side of his face was red and already a little swollen.

"Even I'll admit; that was a good hit." Luke said, trying to grin but flinching.

"You know something about what Cole did to Lucy. Tell us." Erza said, the anger in her eyes making his eyes widen.

"Unless you want me to release the bookworm over here." Gajeel snickered, and Levi struggled again.

"And why would I want to help you guys?" He asked in amusement.

"Because I can see that you don't really agree with killing people." Lisanna spoke up, walking over to him.

For once Luke didn't have a sarcastic answer. He just glared at the youngest Strauss sibling. "You don't know anything about me." He muttered.

Levi stopped pulling on her restraints and watched the scene unfolding in front of her.

Lisanna still faced him with a soft sort of glow in her eyes, unfazed by his rudeness towards her. "It's not that hard to figure out. When I was in Edolas I saw so much suffering, so much pain caused by people who thought they were doing good. They may have been fighting for the wrong side, but they only did it out of fear. Its times like this I only wish that I could have had the chance to help them as well, help them like I'm trying to help you. From what Loke told us you didn't actually have a hand in hurting Lucy, and something tells me that when it came down to it you wouldn't have been able to."

"He was still working with him though; he was going to help Cole kill Lucy." Loke growled.

"Please, help us save our friend. I know you didn't want anything to do with this, so prove to us that you really wouldn't hurt her." Lisanna said, her eyes starting to water.

Everyone seemed mesmerized by Lisanna, even Luke couldn't look away from the silvered haired mage. Levi watched in shock as Luke's eyes suddenly became pained, and he sighed.

"Eight years ago your Raijinshuu tribe completely destroyed my old dark guild, Ghoul Spirit. I was out on a job with the two guys from before and another guy named Kyro and we came back to complete destruction. Kyro kept the four of us together, making us believe that we needed to get revenge on Fairy Tail, saying that we need to take everything away you guys and make you suffer. I agreed out of fear, and because of a promise: When the time came, I could finally battle against Natsu. It wasn't more than half a year ago when we met the guy you know as Cole, but in reality his name is Dominik. He told us what he wanted to accomplish, and in doing so it would strike the first blow against Fairy Tail. Kyro didn't hesitate to join him."

"Why are you telling us all of this? And why should we believe a single word you say?" Gray demanded harshly.

He fixed the ice mage with an intense glare. As much as Levi hated the guy and wanted to punch him some more, she couldn't ignore the look of pure honesty and pain in his eyes.

"I'm telling you this because if that girl dies, then that's blood on my hands." He said quietly.

"So you'll help us?" Lisanna asked, hope shinning in her eyes.

Luke stared at her for a moment, an odd look in his eyes, and then that sarcastic grin of his was back in place, accenting the quickly bruising flesh on his cheek. "On one condition," He said, eyes trailing to the infirmary door where Wendy was standing, almost looking as if she was keeping guard, "Natsu beats me in a fight. My fire magic against his dragon slaying magic."

Everyone looked uncertainly at each other, and Luke misinterpreted their hesitations.

"Look, I swear on my own magic that I will not try to escape and I won't try anything or attack anyone else." He swore, his face completely earnest.

"It's not that…" Lisanna said slowly, "Natsu is with Lucy right now, I don't think-" She broke off with a gasp as they saw Natsu appear out of the infirmary, his face clean of emotions as he faced the tied up fire mage.

"I made a promise, so if I beat you and you tell me that you don't know how to save her, I will kill you." He said, monotone.

Natsu's words sent chills though Levi. He had threatened death to people on several occasions for hurting his friends, but everyone knew he would never actually kill somebody. Looking at him right now though, that dark look in his eyes and the way his body was tensed up as he faced the guy who was helping the very person who hurt Lu-chan, Levi wasn't quite sure if that was true in this case.

"I promise that if you win I will tell you how to save her, and I will also tell you why Dominik is after Celestial wizards." Luke said quickly, "I never liked that cocky bastard anyways."

"And if you win?" Romeo asked, walking up to stand beside Natsu as crossed his arms and glared at Luke.

Luke flashed white teeth at them, a wicked glint in his eyes. He looked at Lisanna as he spoke, and Levi started to have a bad feeling about that.

"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He said simply.

Natsu's expression didn't change. "Let's get this over with."


	7. Chapter 7

**I decided to upload this chapter earlier then I had intended because I have a feeling that the 8th chapter is going to take me a lot longer then usual to write and edit. So I hope this one is still up to par with my other chapters and that you guys still enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: Same as the last 6 chapters.**

**Now on to the 7th chapter!**

* * *

_**Lucy's POV:**_

When Lucy woke up in her own bed the next morning she instantly realized something was wrong. She felt unusually cold, and when she sat up and looked around she realized why; for the first time in a while, Natsu hadn't snuck in to her bed in the middle of the night. She felt a small twinge on sadness and she frowned at it. Why was she sad about Natsu not being here? She has been yelling at him and that damned cat to stop breaking into her house for the longest time now, shouldn't she be happy that they are finally listening to her? With a shake of her head she got up and did her morning routine of showering, getting dressed and making sure to have her keys, whip and bag for any missions she might be going on today. It was a nice day in Magnolia, the sun's rays warming her and making her smile as she made her way to the guild. When she came in she greeted people with a smile and made her way over to her usual spot at the bar.

"Good morning, Mira!" She said happily.

Mirajane smiled sweetly back. "Morning, Lucy. I see you are in a good mood today."

"I don't know why, but today just seems like it's going to be a really good day. I hope Natsu and the others get here so we can go out on a job. Money would be very welcome to me right now." Lucy laughed.

"Even when you are on a team doesn't mean that you can't take jobs alone." Mira pointed out.

Lucy shrugged. "I know that, but I like going on jobs with them way too much to go without them." She said, "I do go on jobs with just Natsu and Happy, but it's always more fun when we are all together."

"I'm really happy that you guys are still so close even with Lisanna being with Natsu all the time." Mirajane said, cleaning a few glasses.

Lucy beamed. "Lisanna is a really good friend to me, I think it just makes everything better now that she's back."

Right on cue the guild doors opened and Lucy turned to see Natsu and Lisanna walk in. She was ready to smile and greet them when her heart dropped. They were smiling at each other and laughing like always, but something was different. She had never seen Natsu smile so sweetly and gently at someone before, and Lisanna was looking at him with pure adoration. Then she noticed something else; they were holding hands.

"They still make the sweetest couple!" Mirajane sighed dreamily.

Lucy didn't turn to look at the white haired bar maid; her eyes were glued to their interlocked hands. _The sweetest couple… _Mira's words echoed through her head loudly, almost deafeningly. Since when were they a couple? Since when had Natsu known what romantic feelings were? Natsu looked over at her with a quick smile before raising his voice over the sound of fighting.

"Everyone needs to shut up for a minute!" His voice boomed through the hall, making everyone pause what they were doing to stare at the two at the door.

Natsu and Lisanna smiled at each other before Lisanna spoke up.

"Natsu asked me to marry him and I said yes!"

The entire guild hall exploded into cheers and they all ran over to congratulate them and give them their best wishes. Lucy was still rooted to the spot, gripping the bar counter to make sure she didn't fall off her stool. Who knew that such a simple sentence could bring her entire world crashing around her. Lucy's heart felt as if there was something constricting her heart and crushing her lungs at the same time making her blood run cold and make it almost impossible to breathe. Why was she feeling like this? Was it because the news of her partner's engagement just shocked her, or was it because… Yes, it was because she was jealous. That feeling which she had always buried away had risen to the surface, breaking her heart as she watched the guy that she cared about being taken away by another girl. Was she jealous because she loved him? No, she couldn't say that it was love that made her this sad, but it was something very close to it, enough to ruin her life.

She was so lost in her own world she didn't notice when Natsu walked up to her while everyone else was crowded around Lisanna. She jumped when he was suddenly in front of her, giving her that much loved goofy grin of his. Lucy pushed everything she was feeling down as far as possible so he didn't notice her pain.

"Congratulations, Natsu. I'm so happy for you!" She breathed, beaming at him and praying that he didn't see through her lie.

He smiled, his eyes glowing with happiness. Lucy had never seen him like this before, and even though it was nice, it still killed her.

"There is something else I wanted to talk to you about." He began sheepishly, "I've already brought it up with Erza, Happy and Gray and they all agreed that it was a good idea."

"What's going on?" She asked, starting to get a little worried.

"We all think it's best if you leave the team so Lisanna can join. She's my fiancée and it makes sense that she is with me on jobs." He said easily.

Lucy felt numb, but she forced herself to smile and nod. "Ya, that does make sense. I understand and it's not a problem at all." She said happily.

He grinned and hugged her, and she squeezed him tightly before he released her. "Thanks, Luce. Don't worry though, if you need help with a job there are a lot of people who will go with you." With a final ruffle of her hear he went back to Lisanna, who smiled up and him and pecked him on the lips, making the girls around them squeal happily.

After the hype went down a little Mirajane came back to the bar with a huge smile on her on her face. When Lucy looked up at her she noticed Mira had a few tears in her eyes.

"I'm just so happy for them. They have been through so much these past few years that they truly deserve to find happiness with each other." She sniffled, wiping her eyes.

Lucy kept that smile plastered on her face. "You're right, I'm so happy for them." She agreed, "I'm actually gonna take off for a little bit, I'll see you later, Mira!" With a final wave she maneuvered herself through the crowds and escaped out the door.

Once free from the guild she took off sprinting, not knowing where she was going but not caring either as the tears streaked down her face. Her eyes were so blurred that she couldn't see who was in front of her before she ran right into them, both people crying out in shock and falling back.

"Lu-chan, what's wrong?" None other than her best friend Levi-chan gasped.

Lucy just shook her head as she sobbed. Levi's eyes softened as she stood up, helping her crying friend to her feet and walking Lucy back to her apartment. Once they were inside, Levi sat her down on the couch and grabbed the blanket off of her bed, wrapping it around her shoulders. Lucy's crying had slowed down to just hiccups and sniffles. When Levi sat in front of her and examined her, she sighed.

"I take it this has something to do with Natsu, doesn't it?" She asked softly.

Lucy nodded slowly. "He and Lisanna are engaged…" She whispered, "And he kicked me off of his team."

Levi's eyes flew wide in shock. "Oh, Lu-chan, I'm so sorry! I know how much you cared about him. He and Lisanna getting engaged is one thing, but he actually said that to you? What about Gray and Erza?"

"Apparently they both agreed that it would be for the best." She choked out, her voice broken.

Levi just sat back and shook her head. "I'm so sorry that you are in so much pain right now. I promise I will do anything I can to make you feel better." She gave her a wide grin, "So that means I will be staying here for today and tonight! Jet and Droy can figure out something to do without me for once."

Lucy found the strength to give her a small smile. "Thanks so much, Levi-chan."

_**Levi's POV:**_

Levi smirked, watching as Luke flinched in pain while Lisanna dabbed a cotton ball with alcohol on the wound decorating his forehead. Lisanna gave him a sort of sheepish smile but she kept wiping at the wound. Levi noticed Mirajane frown at her little sister, as if she noticed the same thing Levi had earlier. Natsu was standing in front of the beaten up guy, eyes still as emotionless as ever and he didn't look at have even broken a sweat. Levi smiled happily to herself as she recalled the battle. It wasn't even a competition, which made it that much more enjoyable for her to watch. Luke quickly found out that a cocky attitude and a blast of fire was what made him lose. Natsu just stood there as the flames encased him, and then he ate them as Luke's eyes widened in shock. Natsu just walked up to him, then jogged, and then started to sprint. His fist caught on fire and used his Iron fist of the Fire Dragon. Even Levi thought that Luke must have been a better fire wizard than this, but he just stood there in shock and took it upside the end, an instant knock out. Natsu just calmly shook away the flames and walked inside, leaving Lisanna and Mirajane to drag the unconscious Luke into the guild.

Now he was awake and being taken care of by Lisanna as Natsu stared him down. Luke finally met his eyes, and the smile on Levi's face slowly vanished. The way he was looking at Natsu, it wasn't anger.

Luke was in awe of him.

Everything suddenly clicked for Levi, making her let out a little gasp that made Gajeel look down at her and raise a studded eyebrow.

"He didn't fight back." She whispered.

Gajeel chuckled darkly. "That's because that monster over there didn't give him a chance to."

Levi shook her head, turning to face the iron dragon slayer with an intense gaze. "No, he didn't even try. Do you really think Natsu would have taken him down with one hit? I'm sure that Luke would have been able to dodge that. The way he was talking earlier… It was so sincere. As much as I hate the guy, I think that he only asked to fight Natsu so he would have a reason to tell us everything. He didn't want to seem weak in front of us, so he staged the entire thing."

Gajeel stared at her for a moment, and then shook his head in amazement. "You're the only one smart enough to see through him like that." He said gruffly, but it still made Levi blush a little as she looked away.

She watched Lisanna smile softly at the fire mage, and found herself smiling her first real smile since she had set her eyes on Lu-chan. _No, I wasn't the only one who realized it. _

"A deals a deal." Luke said, then grinned, "Okay everyone! Let's all gather for story time!"

No one laughed, but they shot him a bunch of annoyed looks before they took a few steps closer to hear the story.

"The first thing I will say is that you need to heal the blondie as soon as possible." He stated the obvious, "The dagger that Dominik used on her, it vanished didn't it?"

Natsu only nodded so he continued. "Then only a shadow mage can heal her. If you guys don't find one quick the shadows will make its way to her heart and kill her."

"So it's kind of like she was poisoned." Mirajane asked quietly.

"This is way worse than any poison. Dominik explained Cole's magic to us at one time. Apparently whoever has been stabbed by that kind of dagger will be trapped in their own worst nightmares, which will only get worse and worse until the shadows finally reach her heart. Not only will she die here, she will most likely die in some horrible and terrifying way while she is dreaming." Luke murmured.

Natsu's fist had clenched and his entire body had gone rigid. "Then we need to drag him back here and force him to cure-"

"I can say right now that he is never going to do that, he needs her dead." Luke interrupted bluntly.

"Wait, what do you mean he explained _Cole's_ magic to you? Isn't it his magic?" Romeo asked.

Luke's face darkened. "Dominik's magic is something I have never even heard of before. It's magic so dark that it was erased from history, I don't even think it has a proper name. We have just been calling it shape-shifting magic."

"Do you mean that he can copy someone else's form and magic?" Erza demanded.

"It's nothing as simple as that. Sure there are many mages with takeover abilities like that, but it always wears off after a certain amount of time or when their magical energy is depleted. Dominik's magic… It's infinite. He can keep any form he takes and any magic that person has and can use it indefinitely. It doesn't take away any of his magic, and he can keep it to shift into any time he wants. The cost of getting different forms and magic though, that's what makes this magic so evil. To gain the ability to turn into someone and use their magic, he needs to kill them with his own two hands. When that person is dead, he gains complete control over their magic power and can become that person with all of their memories and feelings."

Everyone looked at him in shocked silence for a little while. Levi was shaking, feeling as if she was going to throw up.

"There are only two Celestial Wizards left in the world, so it's an endangered magic that he wants to possess. He first went after that girl from Sabertooth because he believed that she would be easier to kill and steal two Zodiac keys from. When he had the magic he needed, he would have been more patient in his pursuit of Lucy. He may have misjudged the ferocity of Sabertooth, especially those two dragon slayers."

Wendy suddenly came running out of the infirmary, eyes wide with hope and excitement. "That's it!" She cried making a few people jump, "if only a shadow user can heal her, then we should get Rogue! He's the shadow dragon slayer after all, he can save her!"

Levi saw the first emotions since Lucy was brought back shine in Natsu's eyes. He looked hopeful, a small fire lighting those previously bleak eyes.

"Then we need to send a team to go to Sabertooth and ask for his help, beg him for it if need be!" Erza commanded.

"You need to be careful though; Dominik must know by now that Lucy is still alive, and he isn't going to risk you guys saving her by just waiting for her to die. He's going to find a way in here and he isn't going to be alone. He will have Kyro, Pursek and Tarrel with him, and they are all very deadly mages." Luke warned.

"But don't they feel the same way you do?" Lisanna asked.

Luke bit his lip, eyes uncertain. "Kyro and Pursek were the two who wanted to destroy you all the most, but Tarrel did voice his concerns with me a few times. He may not want to kill anyone, but he is still loyal to Kyro."

"And you?" Gray looked at him with suspicious eyes.

Luke set his jaw. "I may enjoy a fight and I may still be mad at your Raijinshuu tribe, but I don't have a quarrel with your entire guild and I don't want to be a murderer. I went with Kyro because I had nowhere else to go, not because I'm loyal to him." He said evenly.

Lisanna turned her face away but Levi could still see a small smile on her face.

"Even though I like your answer, don't think that we are going to just let you walk free around the guild. We will always have two people watching you while you sit right here, not moving." Mirajane told him.

"But what if I have to-" Luke shut up quickly when he saw the glare that Mira was giving him, basically daring him to make another smart remark, so he only nodded to her.

"I think that three people should be enough. A small enough team for a message but big enough in case of an attack." Cana said suddenly, walking up while holding three cards. The faces on the cards belonged to Romeo, Gray and Juvia, "And I think that Happy, Charle and Lily should go with them, cutting their journey in half. Rogue has a flying cat, so no worries there." She finished with a grin.

"Juvia will do what she can to help save her love rival." Juvia said, popping out of nowhere like she usually does.

Cana handed Gray a communications card. "If something happens, or even if Rogue refuses, call us and give us an update." She instructed him.

Gray nodded, "Same to you. If they attack here, or if Lucy…" He trailed off, then cleared his throat and continued, "Anything at all, we will rush back here even if I have to tie and drag Rogues ass here myself."

Levi watched Romeo walk up to Natsu and face his role model with determined eyes. "Don't worry Natsu-nii, we are going to get Rogue and we are going to save Lucy-nee. I promise." He said in a strong voice.

Natsu only managed to nod at the young fire mage before walking over to the infirmary doors are vanishing inside. Levi walked over to where Wendy was watching Romeo catch up to Gray and Juvia who were going out the door with the three Exceeds.

"Wendy," Levi asked hesitantly. The young blue haired girl turned to her with wide, curious eyes. "How is Lu-chan doing?"

Wendy sighed, looking tired. "I'm doing as much as possible to keep her heart beating and so is Grandine, but there is no way we can stop the shadows from spreading. They're… they're getting closer to her heart, and with what Luke said about what she is going through…"

Levi hugged the trembling girl tightly before holding her at arms-length with a smile. "You are doing an amazing job; your power is getting to a very high level. You should be proud of yourself for everything you have done so far."

Wendy smiled gratefully at her before she pulled away and made her way back to Lu-chan's side. With a deep intake of breath she squared her shoulders and made her way over to where Erza was making battle plans.


	8. Chapter 8

**I can't tell you guys enough how sorry I am that it took me so long to update this chapter! I can give you all a million different excuses on why it took so long, but I'll just say that I wanted this to be a really good chapter. This one would decide how I was going to continue and finish this story, and I wanted to make sure that I was adding enough detail without stretching it out to much, and at the same time I was making sure not to give you guys a half-assed ending. Don't worry, this isn't the end! But it is getting there soon. **

**Again, thank you so much to everyone who is supporting this story and all I can say without sounding sappy is that you guys are awesome and I'm extremely happy that you all seem to like this.**

**Disclaimer: Same as the last 7 chapters.**

**Please review! Good comments or bad I appreciate them all! Love you guys!**

**Now, without further delay, on to the 8th chapter!**

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_**Lucy's POV:**_

Lucy shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the bar. Ever since she had entered the guild alone this morning she has had a sharp pain in the area between her lower ribs. She thought it odd, because there was no reason for her to be feeling sore. She hadn't been on a job in a while, and she wasn't sick at all. Lucy considered going to Wendy and asking the young girl to look her over, but it wasn't life threatening as far as she knew, so she would wait to see if it would go away on its own. If it got worse, well she would deal with it then. Lucy yawned and rubbed her eyes, once again thanking makeup for hiding the fact she had been up most of the night. Levi-chan had left early in the morning to go home and change, so Lucy had made her way here by herself. She frowned when reminded of why she was crying all night and then quickly shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts.

Lucy jumped in surprise when Mira put a cup of water in front of her.

"Are you okay, Lucy? You seem kind of distant this morning." She asked, her brow creasing a little in worry.

Lucy rid herself of all thoughts of Natsu and gave her a sunny smile. "I was just thinking about which job I should take." She lied smoothly.

Mirajane's eyes became sympathetic. "I heard about what happened with Natsu's team. Why don't you join up with someone else?"

Lucy shrugged. "Maybe I will someday, but right now it just wouldn't feel right, ya know?" She admitted.

She looked over to where her friends were sitting. Erza looked surprisingly happy and Gray was actually laughing with Juvia and Cana. The pain doubled, making Lucy flinch a bit. Mira noticed and misinterpreted why she looked pained.

"Why don't you take a day off from the guild, it might help a little." She put out there.

Lucy shook her head, "Nah, I'm fine. I'll be going on a solo job soon enough anyways. I could never be mad at them for wanting to be with their childhood friend, especially because she's Natsu's fiancée." She smiled at Mira, "Lisanna is my friend too, so I'm happy for all of them!"

Lucy really hoped that Mirajane couldn't hear the blatant lie and anger in her voice, but with the way she smiled at Lucy apparently she didn't. The guild's door opened and Lucy didn't even need to look to see who it was. The sudden warmth and shine in Mira's eyes was enough of a give-away. A moment later she heard Lisanna's laugh from across the guild and it made her ball up her fist in annoyance. She really was Lucy's friend, but now it felt like every little thing Lisanna did annoyed the hell out of her. If she was feeling like this now, what would happen the day of their wedding? The day after that and the day after that? Her feelings for Natsu weren't going to go away; she just knew it, so how was she going to handle him being married to Lisanna? The answer came to her and she felt her entire body freeze. No, she wouldn't leave, her entire life was here! Her family, her friends… But her friends had turned their backs on her; they haven't even tried to approach her after she got kicked off of their team. They were her family, but they cast her aside. Maybe… No! She still had Levi-chan, Cana, Mira, and so many others in the guild that were there for her. Lucy smiled and nodded to herself; she would take every day one step at a time, that's what she would do. She offered one glance in Natsu's direction, but he was too busy smiling at Lisanna and his friends to even notice her.

So much for a smiling Lucy.

Gritting her teeth she went to the request board and just grabbed something with a minimal reward, something she knew she could do herself. Hopefully by the time she was back, she would be in a better mood.

** 6 hours later**

Lucy kicked open her door and threw her bag across the room with a cry of frustration. So much for being in a better mood when she got back. Not only was the guy who put out the ad a total jerk, but he was a major pervert too! It should have been a simple job, though it kind of was. All she had to do was find this guy's lost dog and bring it home, which she did in record time. When she went to put it down though, the evil creature bit her! It hurt like hell and might even need stitches. When she got her reward the pervy guy slapped her ass while she was walking away. Lucy really wanted to call Loke after that, but somehow restrained herself. She would probably be better by now if that pain would go away, but it just seemed to get worse and also seemed to be traveling up slowly.

"I am kind of hungry; maybe I should get something at the guild and talk to Wendy." She murmured.

Muttering to herself, she grabbed her keys again and closed her door gently this time. Lucy definitely didn't need the land lady breathing down her neck today. She expected a lot of things when she entered the guild: be ignored by her friends, have Mira waving at her and asking how the job went, maybe even Levi bursting with excitement over a new book she bought. What she didn't expect was when she entered the guild, everyone went completely silent. Some people were looking at her guiltily or sadly while others avoiding her completely. She paused at the doors, shifting a little nervously while she looked around at everyone. They all started talking quietly to each other when she finally made her way to the bar. Lucy at least thought Mira would be friendly as usual, but she kept giving her weird looks out of the corner of her eye.

"Mira, what's going on?" Lucy asked slowly.

Mirajane didn't look at her when she answered, "Nothing, why do you ask?"

"Because everyone is avoiding me, even you. Were… were you guys talking about me?" Lucy almost didn't want to know the answer.

This time Mirajane hesitated before answering, "Why would you think that? We weren't." She rushed those words, proving to Lucy that they were indeed talking about her, but why?

"So, are you hungry?" Mira asked quickly, obviously trying to change the subject.

She was, but now she only felt sick. Lucy shook her head and looked around the guild. There wasn't any fighting, besides a few words thrown around, and it was still pretty quiet. She noticed some people throw her suspicious looks, and the pain in her stomach intensified.

"Hey Mira, do you know where Wendy is?" She asked.

Mirajane looked curious now. "She's out on a job with Romeo and Macao, is something wrong?"

"I got bit by a dog and I was wondering if she could just check it for me." She wasn't exactly lying, she was just holding back some of the truth.

"Well, she should be back by tomorrow." Mirajane said before leaving to serve someone else.

Okay, now she was getting annoyed again. The looks and muttering just wouldn't stop, so there just had to be a reason behind it. Scanning the guild hall, Lucy noticed that Levi-chan looked extremely guilty, fidgeting in her seat beside Gajeel as she kept sending her quick glances. Lucy got up and walked over to her best friend, standing in front of her.

"Levi-chan, can you please tell me what's going on with everyone? I was only gone for a few hours!" She exclaimed.

Levi-chan almost burst into tears. "I'm sorry, Lu-chan! Some of the girls asked why I was away the entire night, and I just couldn't lie! I- I told them why you were sad and why I stayed with you."

Lucy stepped back, eyes shocked. "Levi-chan, what did you tell them?" She demanded.

"I said that you were mad at Lisanna because she was marrying Natsu while you're in love with him!" She wailed.

Lucy felt cold, really cold. That explains everything; why everyone was so awkward around her, all the suspicious glances and glares, and why she didn't see Natsu or Lisanna in the guild when she walked in.

"Levi-chan, how could you? That's not even true! I could never be mad at Lisanna, she's my friend! And I don't love Natsu, I… I just…" She wasn't sounding very convincing with all the doubtful looks she was getting, "You're my best friend, how could you betray me like that?"

Levi shook her head. "I do love you Lu-chan, but I've known Lisanna my entire life. It's her that I could never betray." She murmured, not even meeting her eyes.

Lucy needed to escape before she got sick; the pain had traveled up more and was pulsing, only adding to how horrible she felt. Blinking away tears she turned swiftly, only to bump into Natsu. Seriously, how bad could this day still get? His eyes didn't hold the usual warmth in them when he looked at her, they were clouded and emotionless.

"Lucy, can we talk? Outside?" He asked carefully.

Lucy took a deep breath. Not Luce, Lucy. No goofy grin, no stupid remarks. He was treating her like he would treat someone threatening him or his friends. Ignoring all the looks and mutters she was getting, she followed him a little reluctantly. Mavis only knew what he had heard and what he was thinking. When they were outside Natsu turned to face her, his eyebrows scrunched up as he stared at her, as if thinking about how to start this.

"Natsu, whatever you heard it's not true." She blurted, not being able to take his silent stare anymore.

He was back to being cautious, "It's not true?"

"No, it's not!" She exclaimed, trying to keep her voice from wavering.

"So you don't hate Lisanna?" He asked, his eyes hardening.

"Of course not! She's a really good friend to me!" Lucy was starting to feel hopeful when his eyes became relieved. That all vanished though when he asked his next question.

"And you aren't in love with me?"

Lucy opened her mouth to deny it, but nothing came out. Natsu's face scrunched up again due to the growing silence between them.

"I'm not in love… but…" She couldn't find the words to explain exactly how she felt to him when Lucy herself couldn't figure it out.

Natsu stared at her for another moment before his eyes turned cold, making her shiver. "Lucy, I think it's best if we don't hang out for a while."

Lucy's chocolate-brown eyes widened in shock. "What? But Natsu-"

"I'm in love with Lisanna and I am going to be marrying her in a few months. I'm sorry, but I have never felt that way about you and I never will. I really hope you can get over this before my wedding, because I still want you to be there. Until then, it's best that you keep your distance, from all of us." He said, every word cutting her deeper and deeper.

Without waiting for an answer, he gave her one more icy look before pushing past her and going back in the guild. Lucy didn't cry, she didn't even get angry; mostly because she didn't really feel anything at all. She couldn't face anyone like this, so she turned and walked away from the guild. It wasn't the same as yesterday when she was just running blind, she knew exactly where she was going. When she got back to her small apartment, she closed the door quietly and locked it, bolting it then walking to her window. After what Natsu had said to her, there really was no point in this, but she closed and locked the window anyways. Still silent and numb she went to the bathroom and took a long shower, standing there until the water ran cold. Shivering, she got out and dried herself off, getting dressed and getting into bed, falling into a bleak and dreamless sleep.

The next day she stayed in her house, not speaking but going through the daily routine of eating something, working on her novel and just staying inside, keeping the blinds closed to avoid the sunlight. She did the same thing the next day, and the next day, and the next day… No one from the guild bothered to check on her, and she seriously doubted that they really even cared that she has been missing. The hopeful side of her thought that maybe they believed her to be on a mission, but she knew that wasn't true. Groaning to herself she got out of bed early the next morning. She would go to the guild today, and hopefully everything has blown over. Buckling her belt around her waist, she made sure that she had her keys and whip before leaving for the first time in a while. She walked slowly, biting her lip nervously as she got closer and closer to the guild. She was suddenly wondering if it was too late to turn back. Those thoughts were becoming more and more tempting when she was soon standing at the open doors of the guild. It was the same reaction from a few days ago, but so much worse.

People turned to glare at her; they even gave a few defensive positions as if she was going to attack them. The pain blossomed in her chest this time and almost took her breath away. Her family was treating her like an enemy, and she honestly didn't know what she could have done to make them hate her so much right now. She saw a flash of pink and looked to see Natsu sitting with Lisanna, Gray, Erza, Levi and Juvia. None of them even bothered to look up, and Natsu seemed to be doing everything possible to avoid looking at her at all. This wasn't what she had come here to do; it wasn't even a thought in her mind, but with the way everyone was looking at her right now, Lucy realized that it was the only thing she could do. Looking straight ahead and not meeting any of her 'family's' hostile glares, she went right up the stairs and made her way to Makarov's office. Master looked up in surprise as she half jogged into the room, tears brimming in her eyes.

"I'm leaving the guild, today."

_**Luke's POV:**_

Luke crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair before remembering there was no back and he nearly toppled off. _Smooth, very smooth,_ he thought to himself, repressing a sigh. He watched as the short blue-haired girl in the orange dress said a few quick words to other blue –haired young girl in the white dress before the latter went to the room where Natsu disappeared and the other girl sighed and went to the armored one with the scarlet hair. _Maybe I should have paid attention to their names…_ _I'm not doing so well today_, he silently muttered. He eyed the blue-haired girl carefully and with a little bit of respect. For someone so tiny she sure had one hell of a right hook. By the way that the iron dragon slayer grinned at her Luke could say that he felt the same way. Two males were standing on either side of him, looking tense and somehow bored at the same time. One had shoulder length light brown hair and wore a brown shirt with black sleeves while the other was a huge towering man with a scar across his right eye and a large greenish shirt that was open in the front, and due to his silver hair he had a feeling that he was related to the two beautiful girls talking quietly at the bar.

He put on his usual cocky grin as he faced his guards. "So seeming that we have been paired up for the buddy system can you guys at least tell me your names?" He asked.

Luke saw the girl with the short silver hair try to hide a giggle at his words, which only made his smile broaden. The two guys gave him measuring looks before answering.

"I'm Max Alors, sand wizard." Brown shirt introduced.

"Elfman, take-over mage." The talking tower said curtly.

"Great to meet ya both, and can someone please remind me of what her name is? I have a terrible memory." He said, indicating the girl at the bar.

Elfman's eyes narrowed dangerously. Yep, definitely the brother. Max scratched the back of his neck, looking to be hiding a smile.

"That's Lisanna, Elfman and Mirajane's little sister. Mira is the girl standing beside her." Max at least was a little helpful.

_Ya, I think I figured that one out on my own;_ he bit back that sarcastic comment, reminding himself that he was actually trying to help these people. "And the one who decked me?"

This time Elfman grinned, as if Luke getting punched in the face was a pleasant memory, which it probably was for him. Man, that guy was a beast. "Her name is Levi, and I wouldn't try to get even with her. She was man today."

_How the hell does that even make sense? _"Ya, plus I have the feeling that the walking piercing attached to her hip already has dibs on her." Luke said, half to himself.

He cast another look towards the bar to see that Lisanna was casting glances at him every so often. Catching her eye, he gave her his 'sexy grin' and winked, causing her to smile and blush, looking back at her sister. Mirajane frowned at Lisanna and then looked up at him. That girl had such a sweet face, but the glare she was sending him was bordering on demonic, sending shivers up and down his spine until he forced himself to look away. He straightened his posture when he saw the scarlet girl walking towards him. Like Mirajane she looked kind enough, but the look in her eyes put him on high alert for more possible punches to the jaw.

"My name is Erza Scarlet, Weapons and Requip mage." She introduced briskly.

Luke nodded to her with a sly grin. "That should be easy enough to remember, it's the same colour as your hair."

_I really have a way with words today,_ he thought while watching Erza flinch slightly before regaining her all business composure.

"We are setting up defences as much as we can in case of an attack, but we do have very limited information. If there is anything more you can tell us it would be very helpful." She told him, eyes hard.

Luke frowned, "I told you everything I know about all of them, even though I actually don't know much about Kyro and Dominik really didn't give us too much information besides how his magic worked." He admitted.

"So, you're basically useless." Elfman muttered, and Erza chopped him over the head.

"I honestly think that you guys combined can easily take down Tarrel and Pursek, and if Natsu joins the fight Dominik should be no match for him. I doubt Dominik has any people to shift into strong enough to take that monster down, especially when he hurt Natsu's mate. Kyro-"

"Wait what? His mate?" Lisanna asked, walking towards them with Mirajane, Levi and the iron dude, "Are you saying that Lucy is Natsu's mate?"

"Ya, I thought it was pretty obvious and I just met those guys. Didn't you see him? He's completely destroyed because of that girl slowly dying-" _Good job making them all look sad,_"-and seeming that dragon slayers only truly fall in love once in a life time, it's obvious that it's the blond chick, even if the guy is too dense to see it himself yet." He explained. _So much for being a smart guild._

They all turned to Piercings, "Is that true, Gajeel?" Mirajane asked.

So called Gajeel only nodded, and Luke hid his amusement when he caught Gajeel casting a quick look at Levi. _I totally called that, _he thought smugly.

Mirajane was wearing a small smile, the first one Luke has seen since Blondie was brought in here and she dropped the plates she was carrying.

"What about Kyro, do you know what to expect with him?" Erza asked, trying to bring back the previously de-railed topic of conversation.

"Kyro's magic is really difficult to explain." Luke said slowly.

"Try your best." Lisanna said with a warm smile.

_God that girl is gorgeous,_ "He uses some sort of explosive magic. He can set off small bombs in a limited area, bigger ones if he concentrates all of his magic. The smaller ones don't cause too much damage individually, but if you get hit with more than one you will start to feel the pain." He cautioned.

Erza nodded, "Thank you, this information truly does help us in the long run." She actually gave him a small, genuine smile, "You aren't actually that bad. When this is all over you should consider joining a real guild. I believe if you found some way to convince the Master, Fairy Tail might even be a possibility for you."

Luke was so caught off guard by her statement that he didn't have the chance to say anything before she turned and walked back to the group that was discussing battle plans.

He turned to Lisanna, "I forgot to tell your friend that I don't think they will attack the guild directly, they will probably go for a surprise attack, most likely go straight after Blondie." He warned her.

"Thank you for helping us, and don't worry, there is no way they can get through Fried's runes." She turned to follow Levi and Gajeel, but she sent him a shy smile, "And if you were to join our guild, I wouldn't be upset about it." Then she practically sprinted away from him.

A big grin made its way to Luke's face, and it stayed there as Elfman pushed his shoulder so he toppled off the stool and hit the floor with a loud thud.

_If this is what's waiting for me, maybe Fairy Tail isn't so bad after all. Who knows, maybe fighting on their side could actually be the smart thing for me to do, _Luke thought as he picked himself up. _Maybe they could be the family I was looking for all along. _He gave the Tower/man and annoyed look before sitting down again, ignoring Max's poorly concealed grin of amusement. _But of course I would never tell them that, they will have to earn it. _Grinning smugly to himself, he sat back and crossed his arms, watching as Fiore's number one guild prepared for the inevitable attack.


	9. Chapter 9

**I write how sorry I am that this took so long here,**

**I write my terrible excuse here,**

**You guys forgive me (hopefully) here, then write a review over there ======**

**I write the disclaimer that is the same as the last 8 chapters right here,**

**Then I say "Now, on the the 9th chapter" Here :)**

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_**Natsu's POV:**_

Natsu clenched his fists when he saw Lucy jerk, her entire body glistening with sweat and she was breathing heavily. The wound on her stomach was looking way worse, and the shadowy vines were now down the length of her thighs and circling her arms, going around her neck and slowly but surely closing in on her heart. Luce looked to be in complete agony and there was _nothing he could do about it!_ Natsu's hands caught on fire again and he forced himself to take a deep breath and the flames dissipated. Wendy gave him a sad kind of smile before attempting another round of healing magic. Poluchka had left a few hours ago to see if she had any herbs that could make a difference, but as far as he knew she hadn't found anything. Natsu sighed and took her hand, flinching at how cold she still felt. Concentrating his magic he transferred some of his natural body heat to her, knowing that it was the only useful thing he could do at the moment. He was clinging to the hope that Rogue would get here on time, and even though he wasn't exactly friends with the shadow dragon slayer, Rogue was the only one who could save Lucy. When Wendy had told them how Gray, Romeo, and Juvia went to get Rogue, it took him a minute to fully register what she had said, but now it was the only thing he could think of, constantly thinking _hurry up hurry up hurry up… _

He looked up as Erza walked in, looking determined. The second she looked at Lucy though her eyes became pained and she slumped in the chair beside Natsu. She was completely out of character; the great Titania would never look so sad, so _defeated, _but this was Lucy. Luce had become Erza's closest female friend over the time she had been here, going through so many impossible circumstances had really made them close, and even Natsu could see it. Lucy called herself the weak link, someone who wasn't really important to the guild, but she was so wrong.

"If only she could see everyone right now, how worried everyone is." He murmured, squeezing her hand softly.

Erza only nodded, her eyes not leaving the blondes face. After another few moments of silence, Erza sighed and stood up, a hard edge to her eyes.

"I promise you will be fine, Lucy, and we will find Dominik and show him the true power of Fairy Tail." Erza promised darkly.

She looked at Lucy for a moment longer, as if to reassure herself that Lucy was still breathing, and then turned and briskly left the room. Natsu actually managed a small smile.

"See that? You can even bring out the soft side of our guilds resident monster." He joked half-heartedly, making Wendy give him a full on grin.

"It's really nice to see this soft side of you." Wendy said to him.

Natsu managed a quiet chuckle, "This side is usually reserved for Luce." Then he paused. Why did he say that? When had he ever had a soft side, and since when was it only for Lucy?

By the smile on Wendy's face he could tell that she was thinking the same thing. He finally released Lucy's hand and he sat back, completely lost in thought _again._ Natsu had never thought this much in his life, and it was all Lucy's fault. She truly was a bad influence on him, but she was also _good _for him. In so many ways she had made his life so much better. He may not have realized how amazing she was at first glance, but right after she had fed him and Happy for supposedly saving her she had earned a special place in his heart. It hadn't even been intentional to save her from the fake Salamander, but she had been grateful non-the-less. He frowned, thinking about how Bora had been using a charm to make himself popular, and somehow when he had pushed his way through the screaming girls, Lucy had been the only once to snap out of it. Natsu's thoughts turned to only a few days after she had joined the guild.

**He was busy eating at the table while Luigi (as he had thought her name was) got to know some of her new family members. She was explaining to Cana, Macao, Wakaba and Romeo how they had met, and how he had 'saved' her so she had bought them food.**

"**Then Natsu kinda went over-board and destroyed half of the town." Luigi finished explaining, giggling awkwardly.**

"**So Bora the Prominence was using a charm spell on all of the girls?" Cana clarified, looking mildly surprised and disgusted. **

**Luigi nodded while Macao spoke up, "Did the charm really break the second you saw Natsu?"**

**Luigi nodded a little more reluctantly this time. Natsu was not very interested in re-living what had happed only days ago, but he continued to listen to Luigi's conversation anyways.**

**Macao and Wakaba grinned at each other. "So it's love at first sight, eh?" Wakaba laughed.**

**Natsu choked on his food but tried not to draw attention to the fact that he was eavesdropping. He did notice however that she had gone slightly red.**

"**What are you talking about? It's nothing like that!" She protested, looking embarrassed and uncomfortable.**

"**But it's only the interjection of a soul mate that can break the effects of a charm spell." Macao explained to her, and Luigi's jaw dropped. **

"**But another thing that can break it is if you know about the charm! When Natsu burst in it probably gave me a moment to realize what was actually happening!" She said swiftly, crossing her arms, but in the long run she had been completely ignored.**

"**I'm going to start taking bets on when Lucy and Natsu are going to get together, any takers?" Cana said suddenly, soon getting crowded by people placing bets, "I call dibs on two or more years though! Natsu's an idiot, so this is going to take a while." **

**Natsu glared daggers at the drunk while Luigi made her escape. Turning back to his food, he made a mental note to remember that Luigi's name was actually Lucy. He smiled to himself, watching as the pretty blond made her way over to speak to Mirajane, knowing that she would regret it later.**

"Natsu-san?"

Wendy's voice brought him back to the present. The blue haired girl was blushing a little bit, looking a little awkward and hesitant which confused him.

"Natsu-san, are you in love with Lucy-san?" She continued.

Natsu's eyes widened as he stared at her. "I-wha… It's, umm, I don't… wha?" He stuttered, not sure himself of what he was trying to say.

Wendy only smiled and turned away, as if that was a good enough answer for her. Natsu was floored. This isn't the first time this kind of question had gotten him tongue tied; even Happy's usual 'you llllllike her' had forced him into silence. He really wasn't as stupid as everyone thought he was, he knew what love was and what being in a relationship entailed. Hell, at one point he thought that was where his and Lisanna's relationship was going, but even after she came back from Edolas Natsu knew that she wasn't the one for him. Was it because of Lucy?

Yes.

The bluntness of his own answer surprised him. He let himself imagine what it would be like to be together with Lucy. Her softest smile would always be sent his way, he could hold her hand any time he wanted, or put an arm around her shoulders without her freaking out. Maybe she wouldn't even kick him out of her amazingly comfortable bed anymore. Then one day he could lean down and kiss those invitingly plump pink lips of hers… It was then that he realized that everyone had been right, and the majority had known since the beginning, known way before Natsu would have even considered it. He did care about Luce, cared about her far beyond the point of friends or family. Was it love though… maybe not yet, but if she agreed to give them a chance then maybe that's what it could become. A brilliant smile lit his face at his epiphany, taking her hand again with the first real emotion he has had since she got hurt.

"Luce, I just realized something, but unless you wake up and go back to being your loud, weird, but cute self I won't be able to tell you, or ask you in this case. So that means you need to fight this, fight this and come back to us, come back to me." He said, his voice almost breaking with the overwhelming emotions swirling through him all of the sudden.

Wendy didn't say anything, only tried to hide a smile, nodding to herself as if thinking, _well it's about time._

_**Levi's POV:**_

"Stop laughing at me!" Levi complained to Gajeel, who seemed to have a permanent grin on his face.

"But you bruised your fist with a simple right hook! Gi-hee" He chortled.

She glared at him, "I'm not afraid to do it again." She threatened, but it only made him laugh harder.

Before she could do just that she heard her name being called from across the guild. Levi looked up to see Luke staring right at her. Narrowing her eyes she walked crossly away from Gajeel, who instantly stopped laughing at stared after her in surprise. Levi noticed that Max seemed to be getting along with Luke, but Elfman still looked pretty annoyed. She guessed it was due to the fact that Luke and Lisanna were constantly sharing glances and smiles.

"What is it?" She asked him, trying not to sound too cold to him.

Luke gave her a kind of measured look, "The blond girl-"

"Lucy." She interrupted darkly.

He gave her a sheepish smile, "Lucy," He tried to pacify her growing temper tantrum; "She is a really close friend of yours, isn't she?"

Levi nodded cautiously, "Lu-chan is my best friend. Why are you asking?"

"Because you were the only one who took a swing at me," He said with a cocky grin, "And because it shows that you will protect her. Anyways, I remembered something else about Dominik's magic."

Levi's eyes widened while Max and Elfman instantly turned to look at him. Luke opened his mouth to tell them when the guild doors were shoved open with a loud bang, making many people jump in surprise and turn. I was Gray, and he looked completely worn out.

"Gray, what happened?" Erza demanded, running up to her childhood friend.

He stood shakily, leaning heavily against the guild doors. He was covered in sweat and panting, looking as if he was concentrating everything he had into staying conscious. "We were attacked!" He gasped out, "Those people knocked us out of the sky; we were completely caught off guard and-" He broke off, falling to his knees and clutching his stomach.

Levi wanted to run to his side, but Luke pulled her back. Her look of surprise was washed away when she saw the suspicion in his eyes.

"Remember what I was about to say?" He whispered, "Dominik can change into people who he has killed and use their image and power, but I think he can change his appearance for a short amount of time, though it takes up a lot of his magical power. What I'm saying is… that might not be your friend."

Levi sucked in air, looking from Luke's dead serious face to a Gray who seemed to be in major pain, "What do I do?" She asked frantically.

"First of all, call off your iron dog. He has been listening and I think he's about to beat the ice mage." Luke said quickly.

She looked to where Gajeel was getting up and making his way over to Gray, but at Luke's comment his head whipped up and glared in their direction. Levi shook her head and he huffed, sitting back down but keeping a close eye on Erza helping Gray stand up.

"Second, you guys said that anyone with a dark heart can't pass through those runes, so if it is Dominik in disguise he won't be able to get through." Luke said hurriedly, "So I guess you will just have to wait and see, but be ready to attack."

Levi gave him a quick look, "Why are you helping us take down your friends? I mean, I get that you don't agree with what they want to do, but you changed sides rather quickly."

Luke looked over her shoulders at Lisanna, who was talking with Mirajane while staring worriedly at Gray. "Because I found out that my actions can hurt the people around me, especially when they are hurting the people they care about." He murmured.

Levi felt her lips twitch into a smile. "I'm not going to apologize for hitting you." She said after a short hesitation.

He full on grinned at her, "Don't need to, I deserved it." His eyes became serious, "Moment of truth."

Levi held her breath as Erza guided Gray to the infirmary. If he bounced off, then they will be ready to take him out. She was hoping he would, because if he didn't then that meant that her friends were hurt or even worse. Apparently they didn't need to wait, because to everyone's surprise Natsu walked out, eyes fixed on Gray's slumped figure.

Gray managed to look up, "Natsu, I'm sorry. We didn't manage to get there. They followed-"

Surprise turned to shocked gasps and cries when Natsu walked right up to him and punched him with a flaming fist, sending Gray flying across the guild and crashing into some tables, sending broken wood flying everywhere as Gray groaned in pain. Erza was the first to snap out of it. She glared at Natsu.

"What is wrong with you? This is not the time to be fighting!" She said in a blood chilling voice.

Natsu's eyes were slits of pure fury, the look on his face something that Levi would have nightmares about for weeks to come. Gajeel was instantly beside Levi.

"Gray doesn't smell right." He said under his breath, "Instead of mint and frost he smells like darkness and death."

"He smells just like Cole did." Natsu growled, "He isn't Gray, he's Dominik."

Gray/Dominik sat up, grinning over at them, "Damn, I thought I could get closer. Apparently I didn't account for you having the nose of a mutt." He taunted.

The image of Gray shimmered, swiftly being replaced by a lanky guy with dirty blond hair and eyes so dark they melded with his pupils.

"You must be really stupid, walking into a guild full of people who want you dead. Not to mention using basically all of your magical power." Luke called to him, flashing his famous grin that could piss anyone off; obviously working on Dominik by the way he was glaring at the fire mage.

"A traitor like you has no right to speak to someone as powerful as me!" He snarled.

Lisanna went rigid, her eyes murderous. Natsu's fists were still on fire, eyes hidden behind his bangs, "You have no idea how much I'm going to enjoy killing you, a million times over." He said in a calm voice, though it was absolutely terrifying.

"NATSU!" A scream came from the infirmary, only a moment before a series of explosions followed.

The impact shook the guild, and smoke and debris flew out the door.

"Someone go to them!" Erza bellowed, and then she charged Dominik with Natsu right beside her.

Levi sprinted to the infirmary, flanked by Gajeel, Jet and Droy. No one was prepared for what they saw when the smoke cleared.

"Wendy!"

_**Gray's POV:**_

The trip to Sabertooth was long and stressful. No words were said the entire time, mostly because everyone was so tense that they didn't want to say anything; and also because the Exceeds were flying them so fast that even if someone tried to say something it would be lost in the wind. Gray frowned against the wind blowing in his face. Were they going fast enough? Was Lucy getting better, or was she getting worse? He noticed that even Juvia looked concerned, even after constantly threatening the life of her "love rival". Maybe after all of this was over, after Lucy was saved and those guys were turned in to the magic council, he would tell Juvia that Lucy had never been a love rival to her, that he had only ever really seen Juvia. He was always so distant to Juvia, constantly pushing her away and halting her multiple advances on him, but he did have a reason for that.

The last person he had opened himself up to completely was UL, and because of his suicidal desire for revenge UL had given her life to seal his darkness. Ever since then he would only give bits and pieces of himself to his friends and family in Fairy Tail, but with Juvia he wanted so much more and it honestly scared him. He would never be able to forgive himself if Juvia was hurt because of him, and that being said he was always reluctant to show any emotion to the rain women. Seeing the look on Natsu's face though as he stared at the dying form of Lucy in his arms, Gray couldn't help but imagine that it was him holding Juvia as she lay dying, and that only killed him on the inside. So when they made it back to the guild and found out that Rogue could possibly save Lucy, Gray made up his mind. He would confess to Juvia, confess that he has always loved her but had been too afraid of losing her to say anything. With a small smile to himself he looked ahead to where Sabertooth's guild was looming in front of them.

The Exceeds put them down and collapsed on their shoulders in exhaustion.

"You guys did very well, thank you for getting us here so quickly." Gray said, patting Happy's head soothingly.

"We didn't have a choice, we need to save Lucy." Charle said, catching her breath with big pants.

Juvia cradled Lily in her arms, looking nervously at the big doors in front of them. Lily didn't look too pleased to be cuddled like a baby, but he had the right mind not to say anything.

"Do you think they will help us?" She asked quietly.

Romeo's eyes hardened, "They'd better help us! And if they refuse I will drag Rogue back myself so he heals Lucy-nee."

Gray nodded in approval at the young fire mage, "Let's go."

They pushed open the big doors and walked cautiously inside. The conversations died out as they all stared at the newcomers in surprise, and as usual a little hostility. Some spotted the guild mark on Gray's bare chest and started muttering to each other, standing up and facing them defensively.

"We are here to see Sting and Rogue; do you know where they are?" Gray called out, making his voice sound commanding and confident.

No one answered them, instead continued to give them suspicious glares.

"You would think since Sting is their leader now they would be a little friendlier to us, especially because of how much he looks up to Natsu." Juvia whispered, and Romeo was nodding in agreement.

"I know where they are." A light voice spoke up beside them.

Gray turned to look at a tiny girl with short white hair and a nice smile on her face.

"Ah, it's Yukino, the other Celestial Wizard!" Happy exclaimed, well, happily.

"Yukino-san, it's very nice to see you again." Juvia said with a polite dip of her head.

"Are you in a hurry, you all look worried and out of breath." She said, eyes curious.

"Yes we are, we need to speak with Rogue right now." Gray told her.

Yukino seemed to get it, so she nodded and motioned for them to follow her. She made her way swiftly through a winding hallway, very quickly confusing the Fairy Tail mages until they finally made it to a door that led to what seemed to be a very spacious office.

"-find him and take him down myself!" Rogue was growling as they opened the door.

Sting had his mouth open to reply when he spotted that he had guests. "Oh! What are you guys doing here?" He asked, not unkindly much to Gray's relief.

"We came to ask for Rogue's help." Gray said, and then launched into the explanation of what happened with Cole/Dominik and what Lucy's condition is right now.

By the end of it Sting was thoroughly in shock, and the usually expressionless eyes of Rogue had a dark fire in them.

"And only a shadow mage can heal her, which is why Wendy sent us to you. If you don't help, Lucy is going to die, and I would bet money that when Dominik has her powers he is going to come right back here to finish off Yukino for her keys." Gray finished bluntly, feeling bad when Yukino flinched and hugged her keys to her chest.

Rogue stood up straight as he faced them, his eyes dark and cold. "I will help." He said, and then turned to Sting, "Even without your permission I will help them. Lucy is to Natsu what Yukino is to me. Would you let someone you claim to idolize throw away his life after watching his mate die?"

Yukino was blushing a pretty pink at his words, looking down at her feet but smiling to herself. Sting faced him for a moment longer, and then his signature mocking grin came to his face, "I need a rematch with that guy anyways, and if we can kick Dominik's ass while we are there than that would be even better. Yukino, I leave you in charge while we are gone. If someone acts up, don't be afraid to gravity change them so they are either stuck to the ground or stuck in the air." Sting stood up and made a fist, grinning wildly, "Let's go save the princess, shall we?"

To say they were surprised is an understatement. "You're willing to help us, just like that?" Romeo asked in disbelief.

The smile slipped from Stings face to be replaced by an angry frown, "We owe Lucy for what Minerva did to her in the GMG. She could have died because we didn't know the difference between right and wrong. If she had died, Natsu would have never forgiven himself or us, even though he may still not know what the spirit wizard means to him."

"Even they know before Natsu does." Gray heard Happy whisper to Charle, but he ignored him.

"I'm glad you feel that way, because if you had refused we have orders to drag you back and force you to save her." Gray explained, crossing his arms.

Sting smirked and Rogue shook his head, "Like you could." They said in unison.

"But Natsu isn't going to take down Dominik," Rogue said, raising his voice, "Because I am going to kill him for trying to take Yukino away from me."

Gray could only nod at the dragon slayer, honestly a little uneasy at the look of cold fury on his face.

"Fro thinks so, too!" His Exceed said, the one wearing the frog costume. Gray felt guilty, because this was the first time noticing the two Exceeds sitting there quietly.

"Sting-kun and Rogue-kun, if you want the chance of beating that guy before Natsu-kun destroys him, I advise we leave now." Lecter said, giving a good impersonation of Sting's evil grin.

"They all make Juvia uncomfortable." Juvia said under her breath, and Gray grunted in agreement.

* * *

**Quick authors note here:  
**

**Congrats to Canada for winning the gold medal in both male and female hockey! Makes me proud to be Canadian :D And congrats to the USA for taking gold in female hockey, you guys were amazing as well!**

**Another thing; did anyone read the newest chapter of the Fairy Tail manga? Am I the only one who is having a complete and total panic attack?! **

**That is all, have a great day/night everyone!**


	10. Chapter 10

**So, funny story that really wasn't that funny for me, my computer broke only a few days after I posted the last chapter, so I couldn't do anything in regards to this new one. Sorry, but it honestly wasn't my fault this time. Now I have a brand new laptop and nothing will keep me from finishing this story! (Besides my own laziness) I made this chapter extra long to make up for a faulty electronic device. Please review, good or bad comments welcome! Enjoy :D  
**

**Disclaimer: Same as the last 9 chapters**

**Now, on to the 10th chapter!**

* * *

_**Lucy's POV:  
**_

"I'm leaving the guild, today." Lucy said swiftly, not giving herself a chance to back out.

Master Makarov gave her a look of surprise, which was quickly replaced by understanding and, to her dismay, relief. "I am surprise that it took you so long to say that. Most of us here were wondering when you would finally leave, when you would realize that everyone only thought of you as a replacement for our Lisanna."

Without a moment's hesitation he waved his hand and her pink Fairy Tail guild mark slowly vanished from her right hand. She watched the entire time, the pain in her chest only adding to the tears that were now streaming down her face.

"I don't want anyone to know I'm gone." She choked out, not meeting his eyes, "So I'll be leaving straight from my house. Even though I was never really part of your family, I'll still miss all of you." With a final bow of her head she left his office and walked through the main part of the guild.

She had tears streaming down her face and the pain almost made her double over, but she didn't stop walking and no one made an attempt to look at her let alone talk to her. Lucy knew that she was making the right choice, that these people were no longer the ones who took her in and accepted her despite her flaws and her difficult past. Even after Lisanna came back everyone still cared about Lucy, but she had to ruin it by letting her feelings for Natsu slip. She should have never told Levi-chan anything, even though at the time Lucy thought she was her best friend, but apparently that was just another place Lucy was keeping warm for the take-over mage. The moment Lucy was out of the guild and walking down the streets she felt a shimmer in the air beside her and turned to see Loke walking beside her, his eyes filled with rage.

"Honestly Loke, I'm really not in the mood-"

"Listen! I don't have much time!" He snapped, making her give him an annoyed side-ways look, but seeing the look of cold fury on his face made her stop walking and turn to him, "This isn't-" He doubled over in pain and she froze, looking at him in shock.

"Loke, what's wrong?" She gasped, crouching down beside him.

"Shadow… Heart… Help…" He gasped out before his image shimmered and vanished back to the spirit world.

"What was that about?" A familiar voice spoke up behind her, making her shoulders tense up.

Lucy stood up and slowly turned to face Lisanna, whose eyes were wide with shock from most likely witnessing what just happened to Loke. Her arms were clasped in front of her and she had a nervous sort of air around her.

"Is something the matter, Lisanna?" Lucy asked, trying to hide how angry she felt towards the innocent girl at the moment.

Lisanna bit her lip and shifter her weight, "I overheard what you and Master were talking about, how you're leaving the guild today and how…" She trailed off.

"How I was just a replacement for you?" Lucy finished bluntly, her chocolate eyes cold.

Lisanna cast her eyes to her feet without saying anything and nodded.

"If everyone in the guild is thinking that it's pretty obvious that it is the truth, but I'm not mad at you." Lucy forced herself to tack on.

At that Lisanna's head whipped up at that, her pale eyes wide with surprise. "But this is all because of me!" She blurted out.

Lucy managed a smile, "To be honest, it's not your fault, it's mine. I joined a guild that didn't want me for me, I lulled myself into a false fairy tale. I… I fell for the wrong guy." She said awkwardly, and Lisanna bit her lip again. "I don't hold any of this against you, so you don't need to blame yourself."

Relief was so evident in Lisanna's eyes it almost made Lucy flinch in guilt, "So does that mean you won't leave anymore?" She asked hopefully.

Lucy shook her head, "This isn't my home anymore, so I need to go find a new one. I'm really happy you're back, Lisanna, because the guild really needs you."

Lisanna's eyes filled with tears, "I really did consider you a close friend." She murmured.

The pain that Lucy had all but forgotten about came back with a vengeance, making her cry out and fall to one knee.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Lisanna gasped, running up to her.

Lucy nodded and stood up, taking quick and painful breaths, "I'm fine, but I need to go." She hesitated, "Can you do me one favor though?"

Lisanna nodded eagerly so she went on, "Can you say good bye to Natsu and the others for me? I honestly don't know what they would say to me right now; if they would want me to stay or not, but I want them to know that I will always think of them as my family." She held back tears while she spoke.

Lisanna nodded and surprised Lucy by hugging her, "Everyone will miss you, I know they will." With a final teary eyed smile she took off back towards the guild.

Lucy stood there for a moment, then turned and continued her trek home. She couldn't remember why she could ever hate that girl, because even in her worst nightmares she would guess that Lisanna would always be sweet and unbelievably kind to anyone. As she began to pack her important stuff in a giant suitcase she remembered Loke's sudden appearance and state. It felt as if he was trying to warn Lucy about something, but she didn't have enough information to put anything together. She put down her stuff and grabbed his key.

"Open, Gate of the Lion, Loke!" She called out, but nothing happened.

His lack of appearing tugged at something in Lucy's memory, but she quickly dismissed it when her heart gave a painful thud that made her gasp. Shaking her head and gritting her teeth she finished packing the essentials and she left, forcing herself not to look back. She walked through the streets of Magnolia for the last time, a small smile on her face as she passed all the little shops and restaurants that she always went to. She began the last leg of going up the hill, and when she reached it she just couldn't resist one glance back. Lucy took in the beauty of the city that had been her home for the last year or so now, watching how the mid-day sun reflected off the water and shinned off Fairy Tail's guild as if showing off its true magnificence. Even more tears leaked down as she whispered a good bye, turning to leave the city for the last time. Agony flared through her chest and down her spine, going up her neck and blooming through her head. She screamed in pain, dropping her luggage and falling to her knees. Her heart was going out of control, sending wave after wave of horrible pain throughout her entire body. Grabbing her head and screaming again, the pain began to overwhelm her. Distantly she could hear herself screaming Natsu's name before everything went black.

_**Levi's POV:**_

"Wendy!" Levi gasped, taking in the unbelievable scene in front of her.

The side of the guild had been completely blown up, rock and concrete everywhere. It must have been due to the magic that the so called Kyro possessed, but that's not what amazed her. Wendy was standing in front of Lu-chan's bed, arms raised to the now absent wall as the air surged around them, creating some sort of wind barrier to protect them. Levi had no idea that Wendy could cast such a strong spell, but by the way that her body was trembling was proof enough that it was taking a lot out of the youngest dragon slayer.

"Wendy, are you alright?" Gajeel demanded, yelling over the roaring of the wind as he walked up beside her.

"I felt a shift in the air pressure, and I barely had enough time to throw up a protective wall before the explosions went off. They almost killed Lucy-san!" She yelled back, panting hard.

Gajeel grinned, "Way to go, kid. This is some high level magic you just performed." It was rare for Gajeel to give someone a compliment, but there it was.

"So that means Kyro is on the other side of that wind-wall, and he may even have Tarrel and Pursek with him." Luke's voice made Levi jump and swivel her head to look at him. Apparently he had followed them in here when the explosion went off, though she didn't understand why Elfman and Max didn't stop him. Amazing body guards those guys were.

"Two of you should stay here and guard Bunny Girl, so that means it will be three on three." Before Wendy could protest, Gajeel swept on, "You need to stay behind and keep her alive, I can smell death on her and that means she is running out of time."

"These guys want to hurt Lu-chan, so I'm going to fight." Levi said, glaring at Gajeel as if daring him to say something against her.

He only gave her a long look, his crimson eyes unreadable, before he nodded.

"I'll fight. I know how they move and all of their spells so it will give me the upper hand." Luke said, but his eyes were hesitant.

"And what makes you think we can trust that you won't just turn on us during the battle?" Jet demanded, and Droy was glaring at him.

"Because he knows that if he goes against us, he's going to prison." Levi snapped, running out of patients with her team mates, "You both just stay here and guard Lu-chan and keep Wendy safe as well. Gajeel, Luke and I will defeat them."

"I like this side of you, Shorty." Gajeel said with a grin.

Levi felt her cheeks heat up but she kept her head high, "Wendy, put down the wind wall and we will deal with them." The three of them walked right up to the wall. "Ready… Now!"

Wendy dispersed the wind wall and instantly ran back to Lu-chan. Droy threw some seeds on the ground to give them some sort of vine barrier in case more explosions were set off. Gajeel stepped menacingly forward, Levi right at his side and Luke following only a few steps behind. In front of them stood two people, both wearing dark blue overalls like Luke but the burlier one was wearing a brown belt while the short and lanky one with the dangerous looking sword had a grey one on.

"So you're the iron dragon slayer I have heard about. Rumor has it you did quite a number on Fairy Tail back in your Phantom Lord days. Why help them when you can help us destroy their guild. Don't you want revenge?" Brown belt all but laughed, a hungry sort of glint in his eyes.

Gajeel snorted, "That's the weakest battle taunt I have ever heard, and destroy Fairy Tail? You couldn't even take down the gun maniac's kid."

The big guy only smirked.

"Watch it, Kyro can set an explosion off right here if he wanted to. You may be fine, but what about Levi?" Luke said under his breath, but the sound of his voice made both of those guys turn and look at him in disgust.

"I always knew you were too weak to be in our group, let alone Ghoul Spirit." Grey belt snarled, grabbing the hilt of his sword, "Both you and Tarrel should have died a long time ago."

Levi noticed Luke's body go rigid, his eyes widened as he faced the smaller guy.

"Where is Tarrel?" He demanded, "Pursek, where's my cousin?!"

An animalistic grin spread across Pursek's face, "Dead."

Luke stumbled and Levi moved to support him so he wouldn't fall.

"You bastards! He was your ally!" Gajeel hollered, hands balling into fists at his sides.

"He spoke against Dominik! He wanted us to just walk away and let him kill the girl by himself. He was soft, and for his disloyalty, he paid the ultimate price." Pursek yelled right back, "I cut him down myself."

With an enraged cry Luke pulled away from Levi's grasp and charged Pursek, a magic circle appearing over his hand and he swung at Pursek with a flaming fist. As if on cue, Gajeel charged at Kyro with his usual laugh, his eyes shining at the prospect of a battle where he didn't have to hold back. Levi wasn't worried about Gajeel, because she knew that he would never lose to someone who threatened their guild, so she kept an eye on Luke. Every swing he threw at Pursek was dodged with grace, shocking Levi on just how fast this guy was. With Luke's next wild swing Pursek ducked and swept Luke's legs from under him, sending him crashing painfully to the ground. Levi knew that Pursek wanted him dead, and he was about to get his chance. Right as he raised his sword Levi ran towards them, using her magic to save him.

"Solid Script, barrier!"

A barrier made of magic encircled Luke, causing Pursek's sword to bounce harmlessly off of him. Pursek stepped back, glaring furiously at her.

"You bitch! I'll just kill you first!" He screeched, charging at her.

"Shrimp, get out of here!" Gajeel yelled, dodging another small explosion from Kyro who looked to be getting worn out from using so much magic.

"Roar of the Light Dragon!"

A laser blast of light came out of the tree line and blasted Pursek away, hitting him so hard he went flying _through_ a tree and did not stand up again. Seeing his comrade defeated with just one hit, Kyro went to escape into the trees and Gajeel was staring at Pursek, to much in shock to notice.

"Ice Make: Floor!"

The ground instantly became a skating rink, and taken by surprise Kyro fell face first on to the frozen ground. He tried to stand up and Gray came sprinting into view, his eyes terrifying.

"Ice Make: Hammer!" He yelled, smashing Kyro with the frozen object until he was bleeding and unconscious.

Levi was so relieved to see him, and she felt even better when Juvia came into view with Romeo, Sting and Rogue right there as well as all of the Exceeds.

Sting had his signature smirk of disdain on as he looked at the two unconscious men, "If you're that weak you have no right to even challenge a little kid!" He snorted.

Luke eyed them warily, "Friends of yours?" He asked under his breath.

Levi shifted awkwardly, "I guess you could say that." She whispered back.

"Juvia and I will tie these guys up until the Magic Council gets here, and Rogue you need to get to Lucy-nee right now!" Romeo said, walking over to one of the guys.

That snapped her back to reality, "Please, Rogue! I don't think Lu-chan has long, please help her!" She practically begged him.

"Where's Dominik?" Rogue demanded, looking right into her eyes.

"Natsu and Erza are fighting him in the guild right now, but please save Lu-chan first! She'll die if you don't help her _right now!_" Levi yelled at him.

Rogue stared at her for so long Levi thought that Gray had frozen him. Right when she was about to yell at him or even slap him Rogue finally nodded.

"Okay, take me to Lucy-san."

Levi took off sprinting back to the destroyed wall leading into the infirmary, the Twin Dragons right beside her. When Droy spotted them he instantly took away the vine wall so they could get close to Lu-chan. When Levi saw her she gasped in horror and took a step back. Lu-chan was so pale, her skin whiter than snow. Those black vines had closed in on the skin right over her heart and Levi could barely see her breathing.

"Her skin is like ice. At first I thought she was really dead, but she still has a pulse, though that's fading really fast." Jet reported, his eyes wide with worry.

When Rogue made it to her side, his usually bleak eyes widened in shock. He put a hand on her stomach and after a moment shook his head. "I'm amazed that she is still alive. This might not be what you want to hear, but it may be too late for me to save her."

"Try anyways!" Levi screamed, tears falling freely now.

Rogue stayed silent as he put both hands over the discoloured stab wound and closed his eyes. A moment later black mist began to creep out of the wound, getting thicker and thicker with every passing moment. Rogue's brow furrowed as he concentrated harder, and Levi muffled another gasp behind her hand as she watched the black vines began to recede at an agonizingly slow pace.

_Come on, Lu-chan, keep fighting this! I know you can pull through this. _

_**Erza's POV:**_

The only time that Erza had been truly scared was when she was a child slave and human sacrifice back at the Tower of Heaven, when she and her friends were forced to build the R-System in a feeble attempt to bring back the Black Wizard Zeref. With those days long behind her she had never feared anything again, she has only been feared by anything and anyone that angered her or threatened her family. At this very moment though, watching the battle take place in front of her, she truly felt scared. Not because their opponent was powerful, which he truly wasn't a threat to any of them in the means of power, but because of the look in Natsu's eyes. When the battle first began Erza fought alone side Natsu to take down Dominik, which was definitely a new experience because he continuously shifted into different mages he had killed who possessed different arrays of magic, but because she knew that he had murdered all of those people for power alone only fueled her anger. No matter what mage he would shift into though he was never strong enough to take them on. Erza and Natsu walked in for the final blow when Dominik made a fatal mistake. Apparently he knew that he was no match for her and an enraged dragon slayer, so as he was figuratively backed against a wall he changed into an image of Lucy.

That was enough to startle Erza and make her take a few steps back, but Natsu stood frozen to the spot, his eyes hidden behind his bangs.

"Please, Natsu stop! You're hurting me!" He sobbed in Lucy's voice, her brown eyes pleading at him and filled with fear and pain.

Even though Erza knew it wasn't her friend, it still made her drop her sword and back away. There was a tense moment of silence as Natsu just stood there, not moving and not speaking as Lucy/Dominik begged for help. Flames licked at Natsu's feet, going up and up his body until he was completely covered in fire. Erza's eyes widened and her mouth fell open when scales appeared on his arms and face and when he lifted his head he could see his eyes narrowed into emerald slits, lips pulled back to reveal dragon fangs.

"He attained Dragon Force, even without consuming powerful magic or any fire." Erza said in awe.

Dominik's eyes widened in pure terror, his shape-shifting of Lucy cancelling out and he turned to run out the door, only to freeze when Natsu was in front of him again, moving so fast that no one even noticed him take a step. With a single-minded fury Natsu began to beat him, no holding back and no regrets. He kicked him and punched him and burned him until Dominik was screaming out in agony; blood, cuts and bruises decorating every inch of his body. That's when Erza realized that Natsu was going to kill him without a second thought. She knew that she had to stop him, but fear kept her feet firmly planted to the ground. Natsu stood over the bloodied body of Dominik, no hesitations in his cold green eyes. His fist went aflame and he lunged forward with a feral snarl, going for the kill. His fist froze inches from Dominik's face, the flame going out and the scales slowly vanishing from his skin. After a few agonizing moments Natsu pulled away, his eyes back to normal but he was frowning.

"You deserve to die, but it won't be at my hands." He said so quietly that Erza almost missed it.

Natsu finally looked up at her, and a jolt went through her when she noticed that Natsu looked older, an air of power around him, and he just looked worn out.

"The Magic Council should be here any moment. They are going to question all of us on what happened, but because they don't belong to a guild and they attacked us with the intent to kill they should take all of the fault."

Mirajane's voice made Erza jump, and she silently cursed herself for being so out of character. They all looked up as Gray came out of the infirmary, giving a low whistle when he saw the near-death state that Dominik was in.

"Can't say he didn't deserve that." He said, mostly to himself.

"Gray? What happened? Did you get Rogue? How's Lucy?"

Questions were being thrown at him left and right until Erza yelled at everyone to get them to shut up and let him speak.

"Rogue is healing her right now, and Sting helped take out those other two guys." He began.

"I thought there were three of them." Lisanna spoke up.

Gray's eyes darkened, "The tracker killed Tarrel because he didn't want to fight us. He was Luke's cousin."

Lisanna's eyes flew wide and she covered her mouth. Natsu walked right up to Gray, his eyes desperate. "Gray, how is Lucy?"

He hesitated, "Rogue said he would do everything possible, but…"

Natsu was done listening after that. He nodded quickly to Gray before brushing past him and jogging into the infirmary.

Erza cleared her throat, "Let's get Dominik tied up and bring the other two up here as well. We have a lot of explaining to do to the Magic Council."

_**Natsu's POV:**_

Once Gray had told him that Rogue was finally here, he didn't need to hear any more. With a curt nod he refrained himself from full on sprinting into the infirmary, but when he made it inside he felt a low growl slip out his throat. Rogue was standing over Lucy as black mist looking stuff seeped out of her wound. The first thing he thought of was future Rogue killing future Lucy with his magic, thus his growl. If Rogue had heard him he didn't even break his concentration, but Natsu's growl alerted Sting, whose head snapped up to stare at him.

Sting's eyes darkened as if he guessed why Natsu looked so suspicious, "Rogue is never going to turn into that guy, I won't let him, and right now he is doing everything he can to save Lucy-san." He said quietly.

Rogue suddenly took a step back and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes to show how exhausted he was from using so much magic. "I got all traces of his shadow magic out of her, but that wound won't be able to be healed with magic and it will leave a scar."

"But… is she going to live?" Natsu barely managed over a whisper.

A small smile crept on Rogue's face, "Yes, she is going to live, but I don't think she is going to be waking up for a few days while her body heals."

Levi let out a cry of happiness, hugging a shocked Gajeel before running out of the infirmary screaming the good news to everyone within ear shot. Natsu let out a breath he felt as if he had been holding since she was hurt, and then smiled at Rogue and Sting.

"Thank you, thank you so much for saving her." He said, bowing his head respectfully to the Sabertooth mages.

Rogue's eyes suddenly narrowed dangerously, 'What happened to Dominik?"

Natsu wrung his hands together uncomfortably, remembering what had just happened moments ago and how he had completely lost control after he accessed Dragon Force, "I… I may have almost killed him."

Gajeel just shook his hand and chuckled something about him being a monster, making Natsu flinch slightly.

Rogue nodded, looking very satisfied by that answer while Sting full on grinned, "I expect us to have a rematch battle as soon as possible! But for now I get it that you would want to stay by her side until she wakes up. See ya later."

Natsu looked at them in surprise, "You're leaving already?"

Rogue spoke up this time, "We need to get back to our guild, and Yukino is waiting for me."

Natsu frowned but he didn't push it anymore. After a few swift farewells and request that they be informed when Lucy woke up so Natsu would fight Sting and Gajeel would have a match with Rogue they left with their own Exceeds. Natsu turned to see that Happy was curled up beside Lucy's head on the pillow and was staring at her face with huge anxious eyes.

"Lucy, wake up…" He murmured.

Natsu walked over and patted his head, taking a seat beside her bed. "Don't worry, buddy, Luce is tough. I bet she is going to be up and yelling at us by tomorrow." He joked.

This caused the blue cat to smile before he curled up and closed his eyes, purring against Lucy's neck. Wendy was hugging Charle as she twirled around happily, laughing.

"I'm so happy that she's going to be okay!" Wendy sang, giggling to herself again as her eyes shinned on.

Before Natsu could say anything, Levi came back into the room, looking completely subdued after what she had just been doing.

"Umm, Natsu? I'd hate to pull you away from Lu-chan, but the Rune Knights are here and they want to talk to you."

Natsu eyes flew wide and his first instinct was to run away, but that didn't exactly work so well the last few times. With a final glance at Lucy he got up reluctantly and followed Levy out the door, Gajeel close behind them as they went to give their statement to the very people who hated their guild. This was going to be fun.


	11. Chapter 11

**So this is it... this is the final chapter. I wanted to thank everyone who supported this story and those who reviewed, your amazing comments was what drove me to keep writing and to do my best. You guys as just unbelievably amazing!**

**Some people were confused about how Lucy was still going through things in the guild while she was injured, so I wanted to say that I did explain why that was happening, Luke told them all in chapter seven, but just in case I threw in an explainer in this chapter as well.**

**Disclaimer: Same as the last 10 Chapters (Holy hell)**

**Now, on to the 11th chapter!**

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_**Natsu's POV:**_

Natsu was startled awake by having to catch himself before he toppled off his chair, shooting an annoyed and embarrassed glance at Happy as the blue Exceed snickered at him. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck, then leaned forward and wiped a hand down his face in exhaustion. A week had gone by since they had defeated Dominik and his gang and the Rune Knights came to take them all away. They had acted all high and mighty when they took them into custody, but Natsu managed to wipe the smirk off their faces by pointing out that they did absolutely nothing. They stayed for two days because of that comment, going over the attack so many times it felt like he was reading off a script when he would give his statement. As far as Natsu knew, both Dominik and Pursek were either going to spend the rest of their life's in prison or to be executed, but Kyro got off with Natsu doesn't know how many years only because there was no proof of him killing anyone and he technically wasn't in a guild. No one was exactly happy with that one. Natsu now lifted his head to give an agonized look at the girl lying in the bed with blinding white sheets. He had told Happy that Lucy would have been awake by now, yelling at them for breaking into her house and sighing when they bugged her to go out on a job. She was still lying there though; stomach wrapped up tightly and skin still very pale, showing no definite signs of waking up. This would be the eighth day since Rogue saved her, and also the eighth day since Natsu hadn't left her side for more than ten minutes. Most days he was dragged out and forced to eat something, and he only left willingly to use the washroom and shower. He looked at her sleeping face now and couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips. She just looked so peaceful now, no more signs that she was in pain or even going through some unspeakable nightmare.

When Natsu reminded himself of that the smile fell away. He once again wondered what she had gone through because of the shadow poisoning. The shadow dagger insured that while she was unconscious she would live out her worst nightmares until her heart finally gave out. He gritted his teeth and balled up his fists in anger while Happy gave him an equal worried and sympathetic glance before curling up beside Lucy on her pillow again. He forced himself to take a few calming breaths and he took hold of Lucy's hand.

"You know that everyone is super worried about you, right?" He murmured, looking at her soft face, "So you need to wake up so everyone can throw you one of our famous parties." Obviously she didn't answer him, but he kept on talking, "Do you remember the day that you were hurt, you promised that if I let that bastard come with us that you would do anything I wanted? Well, I'm cashing in." He stopped to control the tremor in his voice, but he couldn't so he continued on. "My demand is that you wake up, right now. I don't know if I can survive you being like this for another day. So if there is some part of you that can hear me, you have no choice but to wake up and yell at me or throw Happy or even kick me for all I care! You need to wake up right now!" He was basically yelling now, squeezing her hand while Happy's head flew up and a tear fell from his wide eyes. "You PROMISED that you would do ANYTHING, so please just WAKE UP ALREADY!"

"Natsu!" A female voice made him jump and whip his head around.

Mirajane was standing there, hands on her hips and frowning angrily at him, but her eyes showed the pain she was feeling when she looked at the state Lucy was in and how upset Natsu was.

"Natsu, I understand how much this has effected you, but yelling at Lucy isn't going to wake her up." She said softly but sternly, "Her body needs time to heal itself, so she is going to wake up when she's ready." Mira's face softened and she let her arms fall to her sides, "Come get something to eat, I made some food for you and I will light it on fire if you come."

Natsu hesitated for a moment, then his growling stomach gave him away. Sighing, he gave Lucy one more long look. "Don't worry Luce, I'll be right back."

Happy flew ahead of him as he stood up stiffly and followed Mira out the door, walking into the main hall of the guild. When people saw him he was bombarded with questions like he usually was when he would leave her side for only a moment. When he reported that there was no change they all frowned and walked away, quiet murmurs could be heard throughout the guild. He plopped down at the bar stool where Lucy usually sat and Mirajane pushed him a plate of food while she quickly set it aflame. Natsu ate slowly at first, then realized how starving he really was and soon demolished the entire plate. Happy sat on the counter beside him, purring as he munched on a particularly juicy fish.

He didn't notice that Lisanna had sat down beside him until she spoke up. "So how is Lucy-san doing?" She asked, her voice holding hope and a bit of worry.

Natsu looked up and his eyes instantly narrowed when he saw that Luke was standing with Lisanna. Makarov had said that everyone deserved a chance to prove that they could do the right thing and had given him his guild mark two days ago. It was in the same spot as Grays but it was a white mark outlined in dark orange. Natsu had his suspicions to why he chose that certain mark, but he kept quiet.

"There hasn't been any change, but it doesn't look like she's in pain or trapped in a nightmare anymore so that is progress." He said slowly, finally looking away from Luke to Lisanna's pale eyes.

She gave him a soft smile before giving him a quick hug. Natsu managed to give her a smile when she pulled away, to which her eyes shinned happily while she walked away to speak with Evergreen and Elfman. Natsu finished off his food before downing the glass of water.

"That was great, Mira! You think I could get some more?" He asked with an excited grin.

When he looked at Mirajane though he realized that she wasn't even giving him a second thought. She was staring wide eyed and slack jawed at something behind him, and he noticed that the entire guild had gone completely silent. He turned around in confusion only to freeze, his eyes flying wide open and was most likely wearing the same face as Mira had on. Who was standing there was none other than his Lucy, leaning with one arm against the wall and the other around her waist. Her face was scrunched up in pain and she was breathing heavily, her eyes shifting around the guild in confusion, and for some reason, fear.

"What…" She said uncertainly, her voice music to his ears, "Why am I here? What happened?"

Natsu was off his stool in a heart-beat and by her side with a huge grin on his face. It immediately vanished when she flinched away from him. _Flinched,_ away from _him_, as if she thought he was going to hurt her.

"Luce…" He whispered, his voice hoarse with overwhelming emotion.

She eyed him wearily for a moment, "Natsu… what happened?" She stumbled, and he steadied her carefully.

"Let's go back to the infirmary and I will explain everything." He said quickly, desperately trying to get her to sit down.

She nodded and allowed him to lead her back to her bed where she sat down gingerly, her eyes narrowing in pain at the movement. The room was quickly flooded with people saying how happy they were that she was okay and awake, and she smiled and nodded at each one. To the rest of the guild she would seem sincere and happy, but Natsu could tell that there was something off. At the end of it only Natsu, Wendy, Erza, Gray, Happy and Levi remained, none wanting to leave their friends side when she was finally awake. As Wendy looked her over, they all took turns explaining what happened and how she was injured. The entire time Lucy had just stared into space, her eyes unfocused as if what they were telling her didn't make sense.

"So… Dominik tried to kill me, and you all saved me?" She clarified, but she still didn't look at them.

Natsu and Gray shared a worried look while Erza frowned. Levi sat beside Lucy, her face cautious.

"Another thing, Lu-chan. That dagger that he stabbed you with was supposed to cause you to live out your worst nightmares." Levi said quietly.

That got them somewhere. Lucy looked over at Levi, her eyes pained by some unknown emotion and she wrung her hands together nervously.

"My worst nightmares?" She whispered.

Natsu could have sworn she glanced swiftly at him, and that made his heart thump painfully. Was he in her nightmare? Was that why she flinched away from him, did he hurt her somehow?"

"Lucy, what did you dream about?" Erza asked.

Lucy bit her lip, "I thought it was real… I really though-" She broke off, shaking her head as her eyes filled with tears.

"Really thought what?" Gray asked, giving her an encouraging smile.

She sobbed, "I really thought you guys turned your backs on me."

That's when she explained everything; about everyone slowly beginning to gate her, even basically chasing her out of the guild and wanting nothing to do with her. Even if that was unbelievably horrible in itself, Natsu knew that she was hiding something. The way she hesitated before going on to another part of her dream, or the way she would speed through a certain part before giving him another quick glance. The entire time Natsu stood with his arms crossed and his face expressionless. Why would she hide something from them? Unless… unless it had something to do with him, and she didn't want to say anything in front of everyone.

"I've done a quick examination and you are healing very well, Lucy-san." Wendy said after an awkward silence, "You need to rest for a little bit while your wound heals, but there is no reason you can't stay at your own home."

Lucy smiled at the young girl through her tears. "Thank you, Wendy."

"Lucy, you know that we would never turn our backs on you, no matter what happened. You are our family and we love you." Erza said, her eyes soft and Natsu noticed that her lips were trembling a little bit.

"There is nothing you could say or do that would chase us away. Sorry, but you're stuck with us for life." Gray said with a grin.

Lucy's eyes were swimming with tears but she nodded, a real smile breaking out on her face. "I love you guys!"

They all group hugged her very carefully, "We love you, too!" They said in unison, causing them to all break out in laughter.

That night they all held a huge party for Lucy, celebrating having their family member back. They drank, they danced, and they partied until morning. During the night Lucy had spotted Luke and her eyes went wide in fear.

"It's okay, Lucy-san, he's part of the guild now." Lisanna said quickly, and then had to explain everything when Lucy gave her an incredulous look.

Lucy nodded, but Natsu could tell that she was keeping one eye on him the entire time as if she was afraid he was suddenly going to attack her.

"I understand your feelings, and I swear to you that I am going to do everything in my power to make you trust me. I never wanted to do those things, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. If it makes you feel better you can hit me as hard as you want, just like your blue haired friend did." He said, giving her a sheepish smile.

Lucy smirked when he said that. "Maybe one day, but I want to be in top shape for that."

That caused everyone to laugh and Luke give her a relieved smile. When it started to get a little late Natsu noticed that Lucy looked completely exhausted.

"Hey, Luce, let me walk you home. You're still hurt and you need to rest." He offered.

Lucy gave him a grateful look before standing up and making her way to the door. Wendy informed him that Happy was still with Charle so he made a mental note to return to the guild to fetch him when he made sure that Lucy was alright. They walked through the empty and dim streets, a slightly awkward silence between them. When they reached her apartment she said good night and went to open her door, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back carefully.

"Natsu, what-"

"Tell me the rest of your nightmare. I know you were hiding something back at the guild." He said bluntly.

Lucy looked at him in shock, but quickly shook her head and looked away. "Natsu, it's nothing."

"Luce, tell me."

"Natsu, please don't make me…"

"You know you can trust me, so please just-"

"I can't tell you!" She yelled suddenly, "I can't ruin what we have!"

Natsu just stared at her as she angrily rubbed away a few tears that fell down her face.

"If you really want to know, the entire reason everyone turned against me was because of you."

Natsu stumbled back as if she had hit him. It was _his _fault that everyone had hated her? "What-"

"It was because you were engaged to Lisanna. You were with her and everyone found out that…" She trailed off, taking a deep breath. "That I was jealous. Jealous that you loved her and not me." She said bitterly, "There, you happy?"

Natsu just stood there and stared blankly at her, not trusting his ears. She was jealous, of Lisanna, because he was with her and not Lucy… She was jealous. Did that mean…

"Lucy, do you like me?" He whispered, his voice cracking.

Lucy didn't answer him, didn't even look at him. It took a while but she finally nodded. He couldn't believe it. This amazing girl who was way out of his league actually returned his feeling. She liked him. She LIKED HIM! Him, not some other guy, him. It seemed that his mind was going in complete circles for an eternity, and Lucy beginning to walk away from him was what pulled him back. He grabbed her arm again to stop her, and he pulled her against his chest, hugging her tightly but mindful of her wounds.

"Thank you for telling me. I was so scared about me telling you how I felt and you rejecting me. Now I don't need to be nervous anymore." He murmured, resting his nose in her soft golden hair, letting her scent of vanilla and strawberries soothe him.

She stiffened in his arms before relaxing, letting him just hold her. Finally she pulled away and gave him an unsure look.

"Where do we go from here?" She asked, her brown eyes swirling with emotion. Mostly happiness, but some nervousness as well.

"To be honest, I don't know." He admitted, "This is all so new for me, and admitting my feelings to myself was difficult enough, but now that I know you feel the same way, I want to ask you to be my girlfriend." He said stupidly, shifting his feet and his cheeks heating up to indicate that he must have been blushing.

She grinned up at him, "I would like to be your girlfriend. We can take everything one step at a time, and we'll figure this out together."

He gave her his 100-watt grin, "Together, I like the sound of that." His smile faded away as her stared into her beautiful eyes. He had almost lost her; he got a glimpse of what his life would be like without her, and he hated it. He knew that he couldn't put things off anymore, that he had to do everything he'd always wanted to so there would never be any regrets. Not giving himself a chance to back out now, he slowly lowered his head until his lips pressed lightly against hers. It was a soft first kiss, but it was like a promise; that they would always be together, just like they were meant to. When he pulled away Lucy was smiling sweetly at him.

"I could get used to that." She whispered, then tugged him down by his scarf to kiss him again, a longer and more proper kiss.

If the world was to end right now, Natsu wouldn't even have noticed. All that mattered to him right now what that Lucy was safe, that the shadow that was cast over their lives was finally gone. Natsu thought that he would never be happier in his life then he was in this very moment.

_**Happy's POV:**_

When Happy had found out that Natsu had walked Lucy home, _alone,_ there was absolutely no way he wasn't going to follow them. He flew after them immediately, staying hidden in the shadows just in case he caught up and Natsu or Lucy managed to spot him. He got to Lucy's apartment just as Natsu hugged Lucy. Happy stayed and watched as they shared a few words before he ducked and kissed her. Happy had to muffle his shout of glee, and when Lucy had kissed him again he actually flew away so he wouldn't give away the fact that he was spying on them. He flew straight back to the guild, laughing to himself the whole time about how Mira was going to faint when he told her what had just happened. A scream pierced through the guild, causing everyone to turn in panic but only to calm down when they saw Mirajane jumping around and screaming happily before she finally passed out. Happy felt kind of bad for telling her without asking Natsu, but that quickly went away when he imagined what the next day was going to be like. Poor Natsu and Lucy wouldn't even know what hit them.

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**So remember how I said that this was the last chapter? Ya, that was a lie. I have planned to write an epilogue for this, mostly because I thought it was way too early for them to be all lovey dovey. Even if they do have feelings for each other, I just didn't believe that it was in their character to act like that. So if you want me to post the epilogue or just think I should end it here, please review and share your thoughts! **

**Also I have two more multi-chapter fan fictions in the making, also three of four one shots that I am just dying to start writing. I should have some titles ready so if you guys want me to post the epilogue I will also add the titles of some of my soon-to-be stories. Love you guys! Have a great night/day and don't forget to review!**


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